Beyond The Horizon
by TearStainedUzumaki
Summary: He was a shell. A fragile, brittle outward appearance of what used to be Uzumaki Naruto. There was no sadness, anger, or happiness. Just the glare that made her heart ache, and the silence that enveloped the world, far beyond the horizon. NaruIno.
1. Give It All Away

**Chapter 1: Give It All Away**

She still remembered the days when he used to smile. The days when he used to laugh, and joke, and be annoying, and loud, and obnoxious, and goofy, and…himself. She remembered when he used to be happy…

The days wandered by slowly, coldly. The village seemed to had dried up and lost its sheen. The proud village of Konoha was as quiet as it had ever been. The sun didn't even seem like it shined as bright. It's just what she thought as she looked up into the darkening sky.

'_October 9th…' _Yamanaka Ino thought as she walked home from another mission with Shikamaru and Chouji. The two were eerily silent as they escorted their god-sister home.

"Tomorrow…" Shikamaru stated, as if reading Ino's mind. Chouji ate his bag of chips in silence; however, his sudden slouch showed that he too got upset.

"October 10th…Naruto's birthday." Ino remarked solemnly. It didn't take a genius to know what was wrong with October 10th. Naruto hated his birthday. And now he was going to experience it in a different type of pain. An emotional pain…

"I wish he would talk to us. He just walks around, that same look on his face. We know he's hurt, but why won't he talk to us?" Chouji sighed, finishing off the fried snack. All three remained silent for a while, unable to answer the question. Naruto was hurt, and couldn't even pretend that he wasn't. It was far deeper than they would have guessed, but then again, the circumstances went further than they realized.

"When's the last time you guys saw him?" Shikamaru asked, glancing up at the sky as a single drop of rain hit his nose.

"Two days ago. He was training with Lee again. It's the only thing I see him putting effort into anymore." Ino called sadly. They reached Ino's house just as it started to pour. Shikamaru and Chouji bid her goodbye and darted off towards their own homes. Ino sighed, unable to stop thinking about the sunny haired blonde. She never put much thought into it, but Naruto was a necessity for Konoha to feel normal. They needed his loud proclamations. His goofy grin. His strong will and conviction. No. Naruto wasn't needed for Konoha to feel normal. He _was _Konoha. Everything that it was, Naruto made it that way.

'_The dead last of the academy. The only person who I could have actually said I revolted…how did you turn out so great, just to be turned into something so much worse.' _Ino thought, holding herself as she walked up to her room. She wasn't the only one admitting they missed the blonde's old self. Everyone she overheard speaking of him, and everyone she saw looking at him. They all missed him.

It hurt her. She had never taken any time out of her oh so busy schedule to even speak to him. The only times they ever really did talk was on missions. But then, Naruto went and got all grown up. It didn't stop there either. He continued to grow stronger, day after day, making her admire him and turning into what she had always believed Sasuke to be…

'_Dammit!' _She cursed herself for speaking that name. That person was half the reason for Naruto's feelings at the moment. The Uchiha bastard. Him and his little slut he practically has on a leash.

Ino paused, eyes widening. Why did she feel that way all of a sudden? Sure, they were in the wrong for what had happened, but was it really that bad? Of course. It was far worse than that. Ino should have been beyond pissed when it happened. What made it far worse for her is that subconsciously, she had always expected Naruto to be the sunshine of Konoha. To see him shattered the way he was; It just wasn't bearable.

She felt helpless.

So helpless.

There was nothing she could do. She didn't know Naruto well enough to say anything to him. All she knew about him was what he had proved as lies. He was dumb. Lie. He wasn't a good person. Lie. He wasn't bearable to be around. Lie. He was weak. Constantly proved as a lie. So why did everyone else know the boy that was constantly on her mind for weeks? Where had she been when Chouji and Shikamaru were becoming close friends of the blonde?

_Chasing Sasuke…_

She wanted to cry. For one of the first times in her life, she didn't want to be selfish. But she just couldn't. All of her friends could do something for the blonde, but not her.

Shikamaru was his closest friend.

Lee was close second.

Neji and Kiba had warmed up to him like brothers, and Chouji could say the same.

Hinata had achieved status as best female friend to him, though she wanted to be much more. It wasn't a possibility at the time.

Even TenTen sparred with him when he used to be happy. She was always grateful to him of changing Neji.

So where did that leave her? Alone. Alone because she never gave him the chance he deserved. She never looked at him the way everyone else did. She could only see the loser he was labeled three and a half years ago at the academy.

He had slowly started to change her. When he returned to the village, she sensed an aura of power from him. Then when he performed that one attack…the rasen-shuriken. He wasn't weak. Definitely not weak. In a fight at least. So why was he so weak now? There was no fight. He just gave in to defeat. Given up before it had even finished. He let them break him.

'_No. Not another night. I won't spend another night thinking of him. If that's what he let happen, it's his own fault.' _Ino knew it was a lie. It was his fault, but only for laying down and not doing anything about it. It was mainly because of the two that did it to him.

She couldn't stop thinking about it, and just like every night prior, cried herself to sleep.

* * *

At home. Well, what he called home. It never really had that homey feeling. It was more like a box. A closed in box. Alone in his closed in box, that never felt more like home before. Naruto laid in bed, thinking of nothing and everything. His eyes half closed, giving him a sleepy expression. He was sleepy. Not physically but, every other way it was possible to be sleepy. It was a surreal feeling. In honesty, it felt like he was floating, or at least hovering. Being absorbed into the off-white dullness of his ceiling. He hated that ceiling. It reminded him that he had to get up every day to another worthless 24 hours. It had only been a few weeks, but he forgot what worth living had. Ramen? Close, but it just wasn't the same anymore. His friends? They were alright, but not what he needed. Friends could come and go. Sasuke made that painfully clear…

With a sigh, he got up and got dressed, no longer wearing the orange and black jump suit he was known for. There was nothing that would stop him from wearing orange, oh no, but the jump suit was just a reminder of what he'd been through in it. Things he wanted to forget, forever.

He through on black pants and put on a sleeveless orange shirt. No need to sit in the apartment all day. Sulking around town was much more fun. He could torture himself by seeing all the places he wanted to forget. Maybe he should've put on the orange jump suit. Why was he torturing himself? Because nothing he did could be as bad as what those two had done to him. Why wasn't he mad at them? Hell, he suspected that they didn't even realize what they did to him. If they did, then oh well. He was too nice of a person to say anything anyway. It was his fault. Everything happened for a reason right? And everyone is responsible for their own actions. So that meant that everything that happened was supposed to happen, and that it was his fault.

'_My fault…' _Another sigh and he headed out the door, ready to start another day in his endless cycle of torture. He didn't take the time to look at the calender...

* * *

Ino awoke groggily, putting her pillow over her head as the sun beamed on her face. It darkened much too quick. Hesitantly looking up, she saw that it was still slightly dark out. A flash of lightning had brightened her room, making her think the sun was shining.

'_Of course it's not shining. Why would it be...?'_

Looking at the small clock on her table, she sighed and got up. She had training with Anko that day.

It was funny. She preferred training with Anko than anyone else. She was able to get her frustration out much easier, and boy did she have a lot of frustration lately. The thought made her a little happier. Quickly, she got up, dressed, and headed towards her training partner/sensei.

The sky still loomed with the rain clouds of the day before. Then a thought hit her. She paused, the cold air hitting her hard from her sudden lack of movement.

It was October 10th.

'_Naruto…' _She thought sadly. Now she really needed Anko. She was getting frustrated that she couldn't stop thinking about the blonde shinobi. She felt like she was obsessing. Even with the circumstances, she was spending way too much time thinking of him. As if he meant that much to her. Maybe she should just go talk to him. It would clear up some things, especially about that night. The night that he cried. Cried on her shoulder...

She paused, biting her lip. _'Naruto...I was the only one there and I couldn't do anything to comfort you...' _

"HEY INO-PIG!" Ino's eyes widened. Her heart skipped a beat. For a second, rage flashed across her face.

_'Not now! Please, not now!' _

"Ino? Hey, you alive?"

_'Onegai, Kami-sama! Onegai, iie!' (Please, God! Please, no!)_

Her prayers were'nt heard as Sakura jogged up to her, holding an umbrella and a large smile on her face. "Hey Ino. You didn't hear me?"

"Uh, heh, no I guess not." She nervously stated, giving a fake smile. Sakura rose an eyebrow.

"What's up, I haven't seen you in a while. Or anyone else for that matter."

_'Probably because you've been too busy fucking that Uchiha bastard.' _"Yeah, I guess we've just been busy lately..."

Sakura frowned. She took Ino's hand. "Hey, Ino. You're still my best friend. I'm sorry that I got to Sasuke-kun first, but I don't want that to change anything between us."

Ino didn't jerk back. She could only stand speechless at Sakura's words. Finally registering, Ino gently removed her hand from Sakura's. _'Are you serious?' _

"Sakura, you are so deluded." She said. Sakura winced.

"Wh-what?"

"Think back, okay. Think back to three weeks ago, and tell me what you've already forgotten. Then come find me." Ino stated and turned from the pink haired girl, walking away before she could respond again. Despite her calm attitude, Ino was pissed. Anko's training had taught her self-control, but it was getting harder and harder to stay that way. _'She thought that I was jealous because she got with Sasuke? Was I really that deluded too?'_

_Of course you were..._

Ino stopped walking. Yes, she was that deluded. She had even felt that way three weeks ago...and she hated her self now. Just three short weeks ago, the only thing on her mind was Sasuke. How she finally had her chance to get with him, to show Sakura up once and for all. Her mind wasn't that far from Sakura's. She hadn't once consider the teen that had spent the last three and a half years of his life, shedding blood, sweat, and even his soul, to bring the traitor back. It took what happened three weeks ago to open her eyes to the truth. It took that moment to make spoiled diva, Ino Yamanaka, the princess of everyone's world, realize that life wasn't going to be glamorous. That Sasuke wasn't the person she had always thought. That Naruto wasn't either...

But not Sakura. She was still living in her fantasy world, unable to let go of the shattered past that was brittle to begin with. Brittle by her own hands. The past should have been marvelous, if she...no, everyone would have given the time to look at the person who was changing the world. If everyone would have acknowledged Naruto in the past, maybe he wouldn't have tried so hard to get Sasuke back now, just for Sakura. But it was far too late. The past was over, and the present was ensuing. A present that made the world seem like an endless dream...or nightmare. It the worst part was...

_'I could've been just like her...'_ Ino thought. It was true. She knew that if she would have gotten to Sasuke before Sakura, then she would be doing the exact same thing. She wouldn't see the bastards true colors. She woudln't see the pain Naruto's going through. All she would see is the raven haired wolf in sheeps clothing. It plagued her, knowing just how dumb she really was. There was no rectifying the things she would have done. There was no correcting Sakura's mistakes. And there sure in hell was no forgiving the Uchiha. It was all his fault.

Lost in her thoughts, she bumped into someone.

"Oh, I'm sorry." She mumbled. About to continue walking. The person didn't reply. Ino turned around to catch a slow stride of black, oranga, and blonde. "N-Naruto?"

The blonde didn't stop, he just kept walking, hands in his pockets and head down. Ino saw his movements were sluggish, off balance. He didn't wear his hitai-ate, letting his unruly hair lay down all around his face, like it had been wet for some time. It covered his eyes. It wasn't Naruto. It was a brittle shell of what used to be him.

"Naruto, where are you going?" Ino called again. Naruto finally stopped walking but made no other movements.

"Hey Ino." He called flatly and then kept walking. Ino held her chest. The tone he gave felt like a dagger of ice piercing into her. What would she do now? Go after him? Try to make him feel better? How could she make someone else feel better if she couldn't do a damn thing for herself. She only stood in place and watched as the once loud shinobi left her view.

Once again, she found herself on the verge of tears. She didn't know why the blonde could do that to her. As she had said before, their bond wasn't as close as anyone else's so why was she so hurt everytime she saw him? She also wondered why she didn't go after him. To be there for him, better than she had been that night...

* * *

Ino. It had to constantly be Ino. Of all people, why her? Naruto clenched his teeth as he walked away from the platinum blonde.

_'It was her that night. She was the one who saw me at my weakest...Kami-sama, why do you despise me?' _

He held no ill will towards the girl. But it had to be her. The second person so madly in love with the forsaken Uchiha.

_You brought him back. It's your fault..._

It was his fault. He was the one refusing to see the truth. Him and Sakura. They both had refused to let go of the past, to let go of Sasuke. And now he was back, just like they had wanted, but only one person was happy with it. He should've been happy for them. After all, he had known all along that Sakura was still in love with him. That time she had told Naruto she loved him...he had called her out on lying to herself. But he had continued to lie to himself afterwards. He kept believing that maybe she had meant it deep down.

Three years and seven months.

That's how long he devoted himself to to trying to please her, and get Sasuke back. Even after the Uchiha allied himself with the person who killed his mentor, Jiraiya-sensei.

He put himself through death, and pain, and complete, utter sorrow for her. But it wasn't enough. Death probably wouldn't be enough. Even after three weeks, he hadn't seen her nor the Uchiha. Wait...three weeks. Then that meant.

His eyes widened.

_'Today is...'_

A chill went down his spine. Looking around, he caught sight of many villagers, looking at him remorsefully.

_'Don't do that...' _He thought bitterly. _'Don't feel sorry for me! Hate me! Hate me like you used to! I've done nothing worth changing you, so hate me!' _

His nails dug into his palms until they bled and he ran. October 10th. He was seventeen now. What did it mean? That he was now old enough to resign as a ninja and leave the village. But what good would that do? He was legal to any and all things now, but still. What did it matter? What was there for him to do? All that was left was for him was to live out his days as a lap dog of Konoha and die on the battle field somewhere. Hell, he didn't even know if he wanted to be Hokage anymore. Running all the way to the top of Konoha mountain, going faster everytime someone shouted Happy Birthday, he skidded to a halt, letting out an anguished scream that echoed over the entire village. Tears streamed down his face.

_'Why! WHY! Why can't I have happiness? I've brought peace to the shinobi nations like I told Jiraiya-sensei and Nagato-nii! I've become one of the strongest ninja's in history, so why? Why can't I achieve my own happiness like I've brought to everyone else? Is the price of true virtue so thin, so transient? Is happiness but a mere pipe dream for a selfless being? Is this what I was meant to do from the beginning, fade into darkness along with the cold history of the world that I put there?'_

He dropped to his knees. It was the same place. The same place where she had seen him break down, worse than he was now. But this was it now. He would cry no more. This was the last time, the last tears he had left. The earth would not get its fill on his sorrow anymore. Uzumaki Naruto was dead. Namikaze Naruto was a shadow. The true Naruto was awakening. It was all that he had left. He had gave it all away. His heart, his mind, his body. All of it was gone. In its place was a mere shadow, a shell of what was formerly the hope of the world.


	2. Colder At Night

**A/N Thanks for the reviews everyone! Because of the good ones, I decided to put up the next chapter sooner. Oh, and I used the idea of one of the reviewers to see how this would flow, so let me know whay you think. **

**Chapter 2: Colder At Night **

They had been worried. Every single last one of them. October 10th, wasn't a happy day for anyone, let alone the blonde. Though no matter how much they worried, no one took initiative to go see him. Because no one wanted to see their hope crumble. Going to see Naruto would be just like doing that. Watching your hope get stomped and crunched under the heel of some forsaken boot. An Uchiha's boot…

"This isn't the time to be debating whether or not to see him. We call ourselves his friends then we need to act like it, instead of avoiding him like some type of plague." Neji spoke calmly to the group in front of him. 9 of the Konoha 12 stood in front of the Hyuga mansion. It was later in the day, the sun beginning to go to down, but light drizzle still spraying a mist over the sleepy village.

"It's not that we're avoiding him. Technically he's avoiding us. And from the look's of it, he'd rather spend his time alone, mopping in his apartment." TenTen said as she leaned against the gate next to him. Neji closed his eyes, understanding his teammate's statement, but still feeling inadequate for not doing more.

"It's been three weeks, and he's still been sulking over the two _pests. _Now today is probably the worst day of the year for him, and you don't think we should see him? Don't you think if he's been sulking for this long, he might do something dangerous today?" Neji threw in. The group's eyes widened.

"N-Naruto's not that stupid." Kiba said, not completely sure of himself. The blonde was known for doing rash things.

"Of course he's not stupid, but he was deeply in love." Shikamaru monotonously stated.

"And love makes you do crazy things." Shino added.

Ino stood just behind Shikamaru. She had no input for the conversation because she was too busy regretting her life. After hearing what Neji said, she knew she should have gone after him. Now she felt like she was being useless again. And still so helpless. No, it wasn't her that was helpless this time. It was Naruto, and only because no one was offering to help him.

_He's not asking for help…_

It didn't matter. Just because someone didn't ask for help doesn't mean that those there should just watch as they continue their downward spiral into hell. It had been three weeks, but there still had to be time to pull him back. But, Ino didn't know how far gone he really was.

"I'll go see him, and then come back." Ino said, finally resolving herself to see the blonde that had been on her mind each and every day.

"Are you sure, Ino-san?" Hinata asked, a small frown on her face. Ino looked down, knowing that Hinata must have been about to offer the same thing. In any other circumstance, she would have let the dark haired teen go, but she still needed to see Naruto for herself. She didn't know when she would find the courage to try to speak with him one on one again either.

"Yeah, I need to talk to him. I'll come get you later, okay?"

Hinata lowered her head, but nodded anyway. The rest of the group looked at Ino with mixed emotions. While some thought what the hell she was doing, others began to make up more elaborate stories, namely TenTen, as a small smile graced her lips. Ino, knowing that look instantly turned and high tailed it towards Naruto's apartment.

"You don't think-"

"No, TenTen." Neji stoically stopped her.

"But-"

"I agree. It's better left unsaid." Shino replied next, turning to leave.

"Oh come on! Shika-"

"Don't put me in it." The lazy genius called, following after Shino with Chouji next to him. Hinata also ran to catch up with her teammate. TenTen's glare turned to the last person left. Kiba swallowed hard.

"Uh, heh, Neji, help me out buddy?"

"Since when have I been your buddy Inuzuka? If I remember clearly, you referred to me as a white-eyed, stuck up bastard with a stick up my ass." Kiba paled at his words. Neji smirked and turned to walk back into the mansion. "At least don't make him go deaf Ten-chan."

* * *

Sakura was ashamed of herself. It had taken several hours for her to realize what Ino had been talking about. For someone who had graduated as top kunoichi from the academy, she sure was dumb some times. But that was over four years ago. Things change, and apparently she had changed for the worse. She held her chest as she remembered what happened three weeks ago clearly.

'_No, don't think about it. Just go fix it.' _She cursed herself. How the hell could she forget about Naruto for three straight weeks, and then she hadn't even remembered that it was his birthday? Well, the best time to make up with someone was on their best day right? Now that she thought about it, she never remembered Naruto ever doing anything for his birthday. Actually, she never remembered _seeing _him on his birthdays, unless they were on a mission. The one time she had seen him on his birthday, two years ago, he hadn't spoken a word to anyone. Sakura had thought it was him trying to grow up and be more mature. It turned out to be a one day thing, as he went right back to his loud obnoxious self the next day. Her mind began to rummage through the past that she was secretly trying to lock away.

The moments she shared with team 7 kept her waking up every day in the past. Then it was the thought of Naruto bringing back what she had lost. Her heart and the boy that took it with him. She had begged and pleaded with Naruto, cried in his arms, and even resorted to giving up. But Naruto kept saying how he would get him back. How he would bring Sasuke back and things would go back to the way they used to. She had known all along that they couldn't go back. Life back then was that of a genin's. Still fresh, and happy, learning new things and not really having much to care about. It was when their team was at its strongest. But those days were over. Far over. She just didn't have the heart to tell Naruto that. To her, he was still the goofy genin from years ago that she used to beat for the hell of it. She never thought to take time and see just mature the blonde had truly gotten.

Arriving at his apartment a little before the sun set, she sighed. The old apartment needed remolding, badly. She didn't think it changed once since it was built. The roof was missing shingles; the paint was chipping and faded almost everywhere. It looked more like a slum than an apartment. Carefully walking up the step, she took note of how the boards groaned, and one even cracked. Sakura knew she didn't way an ounce over 115 pounds so the stairs were definitely in bad condition.

'_How can he live in a place like this?' _

Standing in front of his apartment door now, she realized she hadn't thought of much to say. Taking a few seconds, she began to ponder it. However, realizing who exactly she was pondering about threw it all to the wind. Naruto wouldn't care whether she had some type of grand layout speech or not. He'd probably just give her that big goofy grin of his and say that he hadn't really noticed in the first place. The small thought brought a comical smirk to the pink haired teens face and she knocked on the door. After several seconds, there was no sound. As she prepared to knock again, a thump was heard, shuffling and a small thud of something hitting the floor. Heavy footsteps approached the door, and Sakura thought about running for a second, only to have the door swing open. Naruto gaze out at her, eyes set stoically in what would have been a glare if his face showed any emotion. Taken back by the completely neutral look, Sakura stood in silence for a second. Naruto was wearing a white T-shirt with the orange swirl of the Uzumaki symbol on the front. He still had his black pants on.

"Uh…hey, Naruto. Happy Birthday!"

The silence wasn't broken, but Sakura's breath drew short. Naruto's eyes flickered red for a split second, but his expression never changed. Instead, he promptly closed the door in her face.

'_The hell? What was that about?' _

"Hey, you fucking jerk, open the god damned door! What the hell was that for anyway?"

Once again, the door opened, but slowly this time. Naruto stood with the same expression but wearing his orange jacket. It was open, still showing that he had the same T-shirt on.

"Sorry, I wasn't properly dressed." He stated calmly. Sakura rose an eyebrow.

'_All he did was throw on a jacket. Baka!' _

"Well? Are you going to let me in?"

"I wasn't." He said just as calmly as before, however, he moved to the side, opening the door completely for her. Sakura huffed and entered the apartment. To her surprise, she saw what she hadn't expected.

"N-Naruto? What's with all these sake bottles?" It wasn't just sake. Beer bottles, vodka, and all other sorts of poisons were scattered around the apartment.

"Don't worry, I didn't drink it all. I have some in the fridge if you want something." He walked over to the kitchen, Sakura slowly walking behind him still looking around at the dozens of bottles scattered around.

"N-No. I don't drink, you know that."

Naruto stopped as he pulled two bottles of New Amsterdam out the fridge. "Oh." He mumbled and put the two back up.

"Since when did you drink at all, let alone all this heavy stuff?" Sakura asked incredulously as she picked up an extra-large bottle of Smirnoff.

"Started about two weeks ago when I found out I can't get drunk." His calm voice sent shivers down Sakura's spine. It wasn't a voice she was used to hearing, nor did she want to get used to. It wasn't cold, but it held none of the warmth that she was so used to hearing from the blonde shinobi.

"You can't get drunk?"

"Not easily. It'll take about ten of those, and a few of these to do the job." Naruto replied, chugging a Corona.

'_What the hell is he doing to himself?' _She thought sadly.

"So what did you want? I hope you didn't just come to say happy birthday."

Sakura flinched. No matter how evenly he spoke, the way that sentenced sounded was harsh. "I…I came to apologize. For not seeing about you when you brought Sasuke-kun back."

Naruto froze up. His eyes were closed. To Sakura, it looked like he was sleep. But then she noticed the beer begin to boil.

"N-Naruto?"

Naruto took a deep breath. The liquid stopped boiling and he opened his eyes.

"Sorry about that." He said nothing more, instead opting to turn around and toss the beer into the garbage. Going to his refrigerator, he grabbed one of the bottles of New Amsterdam that he had originally been getting. "You sure you don't want anything? I got coolers if you don't want anything strong."

"Naruto, stop it!" Sakura yelled out. Naruto once again paused, fridge wide open. After a few seconds, he closed the fridge bottle in hand.

"Well, you could always just taste something and see what you like. I got-"

A slap sounded. Sakura stood in front of the blond, hand still outstretched from her action and tears in her eyes. Naruto's gaze no longer remained neutral. He still faced towards the side from the impact, but his eyes were narrowed. Slowly gazing back at her, he made Sakura's heart skip. They were soulless. Nothing was there. They were cold, blue glaziers in what was supposed to be the summer ocean. The area around his eyes were dry, and seemed like nothing moist would touch it ever again.

"Sakura. Explain to me. Explain to me everything that possessed you to do it." His voice was darker, more edged.

"You…you can't do this Naruto. Don't kill yourself by drinking-"

"That's not what I'm talking about."

Sakura swallowed hard, unintentionally taking a step back. "W-what do you mean then?"

"Explain to me everything that possessed you to come crying to me. To beg me to bring Sasuke back. Explain to me everything that possessed you to sit by his side in the hospital not once, but twice, and to never think about seeing me once. Explain to me everything that possessed you to follow me that day, to lie in my face saying that you loved me. Explain to me everything that possessed you to almost kill Sasuke but pull back at the last second. Explain to me everything that possessed you to come here today, slap me, and spray bullshit about how you don't want me to kill myself drinking, when you and I both know that you wouldn't give a damn one way or the other!"

"Th-that's not true-"

"That's not what I asked you. I said explain to me."

Sakura was shaking. Naruto hadn't once rose his voice, but the ferocity behind each word, the coldness in his eyes; they made him the most dangerous thing on the planet to her. This wasn't the blonde haired teen she had grown up with. This wasn't the loud shinobi she had come to depend on. This was a nameless being, someone with no reserves, no emotions, and nothing that indicated that there once was. Only the darkening, wicked, mind that was demanding answers for these overly valid questions.

"I…I don't know…"

"That's a lie Sakura. I don't need any more bullshit; I'm neck deep in it already. Now explain to me."

"N-Naruto, I'm sorry." She was starting to cry. Naruto didn't falter, his glare still on her as she backed up into a wall.

"Didn't ask for your apology either. Now explain to me. Start from the beginning."

Sakura's mind was spinning. Where was the real Naruto? This was a joke right? Some cruel twisted joke that her mind was playing on her. Maybe Ino had put her into a genjutsu? No, this was far too real. She wouldn't be waking up at some point. Naruto wouldn't be laughing and saying, 'Ha, I fooled ya, huh Sakura-chan?' She wouldn't be getting away from his froze glare either. Not until she answered his questions.

"I…I cried to you b-because we lost Sasuke-kun."

"Lie."

"Wh-what?" Sakura was about to completely break down. That was the truth. She had cried to Naruto that day to bring Sasuke back.

"You heard me. You didn't cry because we lost Sasuke, you cried because _you _lost Sasuke. You didn't care how I felt. Hell, if it was me that would have left the village, you wouldn't have cried begging Sasuke to bring me back."

"But-"

"Don't care. Next question."

Sakura held her chest. Her eyes were blurring. "I sat by his side…because he was my friend. You can't h-hate me for trying to b-be there for him."

"One, I never said I hate you Sakura. You should know by now that that's damn near impossible for me. Two, That's a lie too. There were plenty of other reasons why you stayed with him. But that's not my concern right now either. You stayed by his side, as long as you could. You said you did it because he was your friend. Well Sakura, thanks for putting me in the position as fodder, because I was in the hospital on many different occasions, the first noticeably significant time being when your precious Sasuke put two chidoris into my body. I vaguely remember you coming to see me wrapped up like a mummy only to ask what had happened to the Uchiha. After that, I didn't hear from you until I was out of the hospital and the first thing you say is that we're going to go after Sasuke together. Then when I bring him back this time, you take him from me, not even a glance to see how I'm doing. You were too busy rushing him to the hospital, not seeing the amount of blood spraying from my side and my chest. By the way, that lightning blade of his cut one of my lungs in half, thanks for asking. Not one tear, not one little wisp of sympathy for the person who technically died on that mission. No, just for the lone so called avenger that never gave a damn about anyone."

"S-Sasuke-kun does care-"

"And the first thing that comes out your mouth is about Sasuke. Done with that one, next question." Naruto's voice had slowly begun to rise, but he tried to keep his calm stature.

Sakura wiped tears away. Naruto was right. He was putting everything in perspective and she was realizing just how much of a bane to him she was. She had finally broke him. She could only wonder how he put up with her for so long and now she dreaded answering anymore questions. She didn't want to see the truth. She didn't want to see how she truly looked in the mirror. She didn't want to see Naruto like this anymore.

"Please, Naruto! I'm sorry, for everything!"

"I. Don't. Want. Apologies. They mean absolutely nothing at all to me. Besides, apologies aren't shit if you don't mean them, and if they don't hold enough significance to what is being asked forgiveness for. Now next question."

This question she couldn't answer. The reason she told Naruto to not go after Sasuke anymore. The reason she had told him she loved him…

"I…didn't want to see you hurt anymore."

"That's a partial lie. It was the one point where you actually started caring about me, but there was still hidden meaning behind it wasn't there? You didn't want Sasuke to kill me. You thought I was still too weak and that if we fought, he would've killed me, and then he would have never been able to come back to the village. You knew I loved you, that's why you told me that you loved me. You knew that I would do whatever you wanted because of the way I felt. Newsflash; I'm not stupid. I can see through all your bullshit and snobbery. Even if the reason wasn't because you thought Sasuke could kill me, it was all about him. I don't care for the rest of these damn questions. This should be enough. The one reason that all of these have in common all come back full circle. You have always and probably always will only love one person. That's Sasuke. You never loved me, and you never actually cared enough to wonder if I was okay with everything or not. You knew I loved you but decided to try to use that against me instead of actually give a shot at what could've been. So as a long, tired tale comes to an end, this forgotten, forsaken, fool of a person only has one finally smart thing to say."

Sakura looked at his eyes again. His voice had calmed down, and he was back to neutral. He walked out the kitchen, Sakura following behind quickly. He opened his front door and stood out the way.

"Goodbye Sakura."

Sakura finally broke down. She dropped to her knees in front of the door, the cold October wind blowing in over her. There were no words spoken anymore. She cried for almost a half hour, Naruto never moving from his spot of holding the door open.

"N-Naruto…I'm sorry!" She slowly stood up, seeming to limp out the door. "I'm so, so, sorry." She called through sobs. He watched as she walked down the stairs and away from the apartment.

"No, your not."

* * *

"Naruto…"

His eyes didn't widen. He had seen her coming up from the opposite road.

"What do you want Ino?"

"Can I…can I talk to you?"

Naruto wasn't in the mood for anymore 'talks', but let her in anyway. Her initial reaction was much like that of Sakura's, asking when he started drinking and why such heavy drinks. Then it took a turn.

"Naruto, about three weeks ago-"

"Save it. You just so happened to come by at the time so you did what any other person would have done."

"No…I followed you. Through your shunshin."

For the first time, Naruto's eyes widened. "And why would you do that?"

"Because…I was worried about you. I'm your friend."

"Since when?" Naruto hadn't actually meant to say it aloud. However, since he had, he didn't regret it. Ino looked down sadly. When had she been a friend to him? When had she found the time to try to be something more than an associate that knew of him? Why was she trying so hard now?

"I...I'm sor-"

"Please don't do that. I've had enough of that shit today." His voice lowered.

"Naruto, I know I haven't been a good friend…or much of a friend at all for that matter, but I still don't like seeing you hurt. I want to be your friend, even if just to see you smile again."

Naruto looked away. Ino was saying weird things, but they were working. "Technically you've been a better friend than either Sakura or Sasuke. Want a drink?"

"No…you know what, sure why not. You only live once…" She followed him to the kitchen, catching a small grin form on his lips at her acceptance of his offer to drink. Grabbing cups, he opened the bottle of New Amsterdam that was already sitting out on the counter. Ino looked at the clear liquid, a small look of hesitance appearing. Naruto poured the drinks and handed her a cup.

"Uh…aren't you suppose to juice this or something?" She asked, smelling the strong liquor.

"That's what coolers are for." Naruto upped the cup and slammed it down on the counter, wiping his lips. Ino shrugged and followed suit, almost spitting it back out. She gagged on the extremely strong alcohol. It burned her throat immensely, spreading down to her chest and made her eyes water. As the last of the acid went down, she breathed in heavily, fanning herself as she began to turn red.

"Ah, what the hell is that stuff, lava?" She called running to the sink and putting her head under the faucet as she guzzled down water.

"Hey, I like this stuff. This isn't even the strongest thing I've got." Naruto chuckled, seeing her reaction to the drink. He paused for a second. He hadn't laughed in a while. For a split second, he was grateful for Ino coming over, but then remembered her purpose. "So…what else did you need to talk about?"

Ino remained under the faucet for a bit longer before turning it off and grabbing a paper towel to wipe her mouth. "That can wait. Care to tell me what forehead was doing here?"

Naruto looked down. "She…wished me a happy birthday." He looked back up when he found Ino standing right in front of him, arms folded and leveling the same glare he had been when Sakura first showed up at the door.

"Explain."

Naruto may have been in a bad mood, but he knew Ino was one of the pushiest girls he'd ever met. Trying to hide anything from her was like trying to take a cub from a lion. With a sigh, he explained everything that went down just moments before she showed up. To his surprise Ino sat and listened intently, getting sad at parts that made him sad and angry at parts that had pissed him off. In general, he hadn't expected her to actually feel the way he did. He was half expecting something along the lines of 'Well, you are a loud mouthed idiot' or 'Sasuke-kun is a great person, how come you can't see that too?' He never expected…

"Those bastards! I never thought they had been treating you like that this the entire time! Just who the hell do they think they are?" Naruto looked quizzically at the girl he had chalked up to be almost as bad as Sakura as she rambled about how stupid pink and black haired bastards were. Watching her, he began to get light headed. Her voice was starting to fade out. The next thing he knew, blackness had overtaken him.

Ino stopped her rant as the sunny haired shinobi collapsed forward on top of her.

"N-Naruto? Naruto, are you okay?" She wiggled herself from under him, then turned him over. His breathing was heavy and his face was red. She felt his head and pulled it away fast. He was burning up. "He has a fever! But I couldn't tell at first! What do I do?"

She wanted to pick him up and run him to the hospital but a crash of thunder outside told her that that would only make matters worse. Thinking quickly, she ran to his bedroom and pulled off the comforter, quickly running back to the kitchen. As fast and as gently as she could, she wrapped him up to his head and tried to pick him. Grunting at his weight, she got him over her shoulder. She proceeded to take him back to his room, stumbling over several bottles of who knows what, finally reaching her destination and laying him on the bed. Looking at the bottles around the bed, she sighed in disgust.

'_I wouldn't be surprised if he's suffering from alcohol poisoning.'_

Ino sighed as she sat on the edge of the bed next to him. Seeing the distraught look on his face, it reminded her of the day when he had brought Sasuke back to the village. Not wanting to see his face like that, she got up and went into his wash room. Ironically, it was the cleanest place in the entire apartment. She easily found a face towel and grabbed the bucket from under the sink. She filled it with hot water and took it back to his room. His breathing had even out and he seemed to be sleeping peacefully, but his face remained red and she could feel that he was still burning up. Wringing out the rag, she gently began to dab at the sweat that formed on his forehead.

'_Who would have guessed that I would be here taking care of you like this?' _

She dipped the rag again and wrung it out, placing it on his forehead. Looking outside again, she saw that it had started pouring down. She got up and closed the curtain, plunging the room into semi-darkness. Taking her post again on the edge of the bed, a tired sigh escaped her lips.

"Man what a long day, and I can't even go home. Well…I couldn't leave Naruto here alone like this anyway…" Her gaze caught the sleeping teen again. He wasn't bad looking. Not bad in the least actually. Very handsome. Ino shook her head and blushed.

'_I need to stop before I end up looking like Hinata. I am not a stalker. I am not a stalker.' _Ino loved Hinata, but the way she followed Naruto was a little on the…illegal side? She blushed again as she realized that she was comparing the feeling she had for the blonde with the feelings Hinata had. There was no way she was going to go that far…yet? Maybe, but as of now she knew nothing of the person lying next to her. Needing to clear her mind she got up and walked into the living room, plopping down on the couch. _'I'll just take a quick nap. Then I'll check on him again.' _A quick nap…

BOOM!

A crash of thunder jolted Ino up from her sleep. She looked around, finding herself in a pitch black room.

'_Shit, I overslept!' _She cursed as she stumbled up from the couch. Catching a glimpse of a clock she saw that it was 3:00 A.M. Briskly walking with an outstretched hand to find some source of light, she tripped over an empty bottle. "Ow." She groaned rubbing her sore hip. Not feeling like taking another tumble, she began to crawl towards the direction she knew was Naruto's room. Feeling the doorway, she saw moonlight drifting in from the curtain covered window. Finding it safe, she stood up and walked over to the bed, clicking on the night stand table lamp. She removed the cold rag from his head and proceeded to replace the water in the bucket. Going back into his room, Ino paused. The bucket of water dropped from her hand, spraying water all over the place. "NARUTO!" She cried as she ran to his side. There was no movement. Naruto had stopped breathing.


	3. Reversed At Dawn

_**Hey, everyone! To start things off, I'm going to lie and say I planned on posting this chapter the day after Naruto's birthday, aka, October 11th! In reality, I just didn't have time to type much and this week is midterms! (Yay?) Anyway, thanks for the reviews people, and I hope to hear exactly what you think about this chapter. I'm kind of scared about it...**_

**Chapter 3: Reversed At Dawn**

_Three years and seven months. That's how long it took for him to finally get strong enough for this moment. The day that he would face Sasuke for the last time. Either he was going to bring Sasuke back to the village, or they were both going to die fighting. His heart, his mind, all of it was taken from his insides and was on full display to the world. The show caser was Sakura. Sasuke was the bidder. This final day would decide the future of the original Team 7._

"_Goukakyou No Jutsu!" Sasuke called lunging to the side and firing a giant fireball._

"_Tatsumaki Rendan!" Naruto shouted back, spinning as the large attack covered him. A giant sphere of wind blew the flames away. Sasuke was above him, sword poised to strike and sparking. Not fast enough to completely dodge, Naruto was cut in the side. His breathing hitched as he felt the metal slide through him like butter. As Sasuke turned for another strike, Naruto made a clone, effectively stopping the attack. "Rasengan!" Naruto formed a small one and sent Sasuke back several feet. _

_"Is that all you got dobe?"_

_"You wish! Come on-"_

* * *

"NARUTO!" Ino cried out as she leaned over him, pumping his chest to get him to take in air. "Breathe damn you!" Her mind was racing. Even if he was suffering from alcohol poisoning, to just stop breathing in the middle of the night wasn't natural. The thought was revolting. Naruto and dead could never be in the same sentence. It had never occurred to her. It never occurred that Naruto, the hope of Konoha and savior of the shinobi nations, was human enough to die. Of course she had never compared him to the demon inside of him, but he had accomplished feats that even some Hokage's could only dream of.

_'Why am I so useless? Even Sakura would have been able to help you in this situation!' _Ino's thoughts were making her weaker. Every push to his chest slowed down. Almost losing her resolve, she flared through hand signs until her hands began to glow green. Trying again, she began to pump his chest. Every push and every lack of response brought another tear to her eyes. She was never one for medical ninjutsu, and now she cursed herself for it. Anko had even told her to get some help from Hinata or Sakura for it, but Ino didn't listen. She had thought that if she was strong enough to just beat the opponent to a bloody pulp before anyone got hurt, then they wouldn't need a medic. Her one track mind hadn't figured for accidents inside the village. Once again losing resolve, let out a few tears, laying her head on the motionless chest of Naruto...

_Don't give up..._

The voice in her head forced her to think. Why would he just stop breathing in the middle of the night? He was going through stress, heavy mental implications, and with the alcohol heavy physical strain as well. Ino knew the explanation then, but would try her hardest on her own first. Making one last hand sign, she forced more chakra into her hands. Pumping his chest for the last time, she grit her teeth.

_'You bastard, wake the hell up! I won't let you leave everyone like this! What would Hinata say? What would Tsunade do? What would I do...'_

Ino continued at it for several minutes, not believing that it was still futile. Her hands had already stopped the chakra flow but Ino didn't stop pumping his chest. It was beyond her now.

_'Why Naruto? Why don't you?' _She thought angrily. Now she only had one choice. The most dangerous option in this situation. All that was left was to physically enter him through her shintenshin. Naruto was dying. He wasn't going to wake up.

Because he didn't want to.

* * *

_His lung was cut. He knew because every breath he took forced blood from his mouth and side. But it was a minor energy, for him at least. It would become fatal if he ran out of chakra but he had plenty to spare. Facing off against Sasuke again, he saw the sadistic smile on his face. The Mangekyou sharingan spinning wildly in his eyes. He was damn near unscathed as Naruto stood before him with seven tails. He hadn't realized that they both had become such monsters, but it was clear now. Clear that they both were far gone, past what either of them had ever dreamed of as kids. Feeling his chakra slipping just a bit in his seven tailed form, he reverted, going sage mode again. _

_"That trick is boring me, dobe. Grow some more tails! One more wouldn't hurt!" Sasuke emphasized his point by flashing in front of Naruto, hand outstretched with the chidori. Naruto merely side stepped and slammed his knee into Sasuke's gut. As expected, Sasuke was replaced with a log that instantly burst to pieces from the force of Naruto's attack. Back flipping out the way just as a fireball slammed into the ground in front of him, Naruto flared one hand sign and created twenty clones. Each were already forming rasengans. Before the attacks were fully complete, Sasuke had flashed through half of them, cutting them down with his sparking sword. Naruto waited, watching for the perfect opportunity to launch another attack. The remaining clones spread out in a circle around Sasuke._

_"Oodama Rasengan!" They all shouted in unison, smashing the large attacks into where Sasuke should have been standing. Naruto once again knew the attacks would have no effect outside of slowing the raven haired monster down, but it was better than nothing. The cloud of smoke created from the attack and the dispersing clones filled the area. The chakra he felt let him know what Sasuke had done, and it was exactly what he had counted on._

_"Ultimate defense my ass." Naruto thought as he saw the large flame of Susanoo. He kept his toad sage form. However, red chakra exploded around him in a flame again. All nine tails formed behind him. Vanishing in the hiraishin, Naruto appeared in the clouds, the glow of Susanoo far below him. Hand outstretched above his head, he formed his most powerful attack. This time, it spun in pure silver, the demonic chakra and natural energies of the earth giving it a moon like glow. "FUUTON: RASENSHURIKEN!" _

_Naruto's attack blasted from the clouds as he hurled the village sized attack down towards the ground. The clouds parted and wind dispersed out in every direction, trembling the earth and forming tornadoes as it crashed into Sasuke's ultimate defense. The attack only slowed for a bit before overtaking the beast, shattering it and sending Sasuke into shock. _

_Then it all paused._

_"It can't happen like this...if I bring Sasuke back, everything will go straight to hell..." Naruto closed his eyes as the clouds around him spun and changed shape until he was standing on the ground again._

"_Goukakyou No Jutsu!" Sasuke called lunging to the side and firing a giant fireball._

"_Tatsumaki Rendan!" Naruto shouted back, spinning as the large attack covered him. A giant sphere of wind blew the flames away. Sasuke was above him, sword poised to strike and sparking. Not fast enough to completely dodge, Naruto was cut in the side. His breathing hitched as he felt the metal slide through him like butter. As Sasuke turned for another strike, Naruto made a clone, effectively stopping the attack. "Rasengan!" Naruto formed a small one and sent Sasuke back several feet. _

_"Is that all you got dobe?"_

_"You wish! Come on-"_

* * *

Ino had found a small folding chair in his closet. It would have to do with what she was planning. Setting it as close to his bed as she could, she sat down next to him, hands together in the form of a triangle. She paused. All her thoughts drifted back to the Naruto that she once knew. The Naruto that had risked his life on countless occasions to save the village. The one that had went to the ends of the earth, to the pits of hell, to the gates of heaven, just to find himself back in a village that would never truly welcome him home. And he did it all for them. For the people who respected him but never loved him. Including Sakura.

But it was her turn now. For a change, it would be Naruto needing saving, and from the most unlikely of sources. Ino would save him, and hopefully rectify her own bitterness. The bitterness of knowing that she had never actually loved him, or even cared for him much until recently. The bitterness of knowing that her past was covered in just as many thorns as Sakura's. Maybe even more.

"Shintenshin." Ino whispered before her thoughts could wander further. Her body slumped forward as her soul blew in the wind of Naruto's mind. The travel always seemed unreal. Every time, she would feel herself flying through a colorless vortex, arms outstretched as the barriers of the persons mind collapsed one after another before her forceful entry. However, this time she felt herself falling. Falling into a dark abyss, the signs of barriers already destroyed before her. Entrance to Naruto's mind was scary, and even worse, too easy. Flashes of memories surrounded her as she fell, showing his past, his hidden most secrets and emotions. It was all on full display. The edges looked jagged, as if they were shattered. The scary part was that most of the memories that lingered long enough for her to catch a glimpse of had been recent.

Her decent came to an abrupt halt as she hit the ground hard. Her eyes closed as pain shot through her body, but soon faded due to her setting. In the mind, the pain she felt would be real, but not ever lasting. That is, if she didn't die. The pain she did feel faded quickly, however death was what it was. Absolute.

"N-Naruto?" She called shakily, more afraid of what he would say about her entering his mind than the condition his mind was in. Standing up, she found herself in a large field, the sky orange as the sky began to set. The signs of war was all around her; Bodies were strewn all throughout the area and craters from obviously powerful jutsus gave the look of the moons surface rather than a once flower filled environment. The blurred faces let her know that she was in a memory. The person usually never remembered details of many and only of the focus. So when she saw Naruto kneeling in front of Sasuke, she wasn't too surprised. She stood still for a moment, only observing as Naruto suddenly lost his red glow and began to glow with a faint white chakra. She knew the form as toad sage mode. Then Sasuke attacked only to be stopped in his tracks as Naruto kneed him. Ino smiled for a split second but saw that the Sasuke had used substitution. Before she knew what was happening. Naruto had jumped back from a large fireball but Sasuke had slashed his front. It was weird; it seemed like Naruto had let him do it.

_"Is that it? You've finally given up?" _Sasuke spoke, however his voice seemed different. She could hear Naruto's voice mixed in with it. This wasn't part of the memory, Naruto was doing it himself.

_"Of course I haven't given up!" _Naruto's voice was flat, much like it was when he spoke to Sakura and Ino in the real world. _"I'm just going to die fighting this time! I won't just lie down and give up-"_

"Like you did in the real world?" Ino shouted, tears in her eyes and fist clenched so hard her knuckles were white. The instant Naruto heard her, the scene faded to black. His wound vanished and showed him standing in his normal form.

"Ino, what the hell are you doing here!" He shouted, more in confusion than in shock or anger. The blackness around them tinted purple, visibly showing his confusion. Ino would have giggled at it if it weren't for the fact that she knew Naruto was about to blow his top.

"I used shintenshin on you." She stated bluntly. The blackness solidified. Naruto's face lit for a second before returning to his neautral expression. However, he slowly looked down as he took in what Ino had done.

"You invaded my mind? You saw what just happened?" He more or less growled out slowly. It was threatening, even to himself. Ino took a gulp and unconsciously took a step back. His voice held a natural edge that just didn't sit well with her. It sent a chill over her skin, raising goose bumps. She knew she was in deep shit now, and if Naruto got mad at her in his mind, it could be bad. Very bad.

"I...I did it for you! You're not breathing in the real world...but you knew that didn't you?"

Naruto flinched, but held his spot. "You have no right to be here. Is that why you really wanted to come to my house? To catch me at my most vulnerable? To hurt me to, like you used to?"

Now it was Ino's turn to flinch. She had hurt him when they were younger, throwing insults along with stones right aside the other children, but she guessed that by the lack of faith she had in him whenever he went into battle had done something as well. It was a small realization that she had thought could be forgiven and forgotten, but it was much more to Naruto.

"Naruto, I...I would never hurt you anymore! I would never take advantage of you, I just want you to be happy again!" She still held back tears but it was getting harder. Her voice had risen to a pitch as if pleading.

Naruto finally looked up at her, eyes burning red. "You're no better than any of them! Don't come acting like you care now!" He screamed.

"DON'T GET MAD AT ME BECAUSE YOU'RE THE ONE WHO CAN'T FACE REAL LIFE!" Ino yelled back, Naruto's comment snapping something in her as well. A tear rolled down her cheek as she glared angrily at the blonde, raging blue eyes meeting shocked crimson. "You're lying in your bed right now dying, and I came here to try and save you! But I shouldn't have, seeing as you never wanted to be saved in the first place! You were about to let that Sasuke kill you so you wouldn't have to face reality anymore, right? So you can say that you died fighting! Well too damn bad! You didn't fight! You let him have his way! You just stepped aside and let him and Sakura go! You didn't even run after them!"

She stopped, hugging herself.

"Well..." He said, fist clenched just as hers had been. "Is that all? Is that all the spoiled princess has to say? How I never ran after them? So what? She wanted him and apparently he wanted her! It's none of my damn business! And don't you come into my mind trying to sound like some type of saint! You came to the gate with hopes of grabbing Sasuke all to yourself! You're no better than Sakura, remember?" As soon as the words left his mouth, a hand soared across his face. Building anxiety in the air suddenly faded. Ino stood in front of Naruto, tears all over her face and biting her lip. Then she slapped him again, with her other hand.

"Don't you _ever _say that again!" She cried out, sending her other hand to slap him once more. However, he caught her wrist.

"Ino..." He only spoke her name. It was all he could do. He thought that she would have been brooding, seeing that everything he said was true. Instead, she blows up on him when he compares her with Sakura. It was completely confusing. "I'm sorry..."

"FUCK YOU!" She yelled, crying even harder. "Sorry for what? For telling the truth? Well, you're right Naruto! You're one hundred percent, pure D, fucking right! I'm no better than Sakura! I've never been! It took me all this time, and everything that happened to realize that I'm blind! If I would have made it to him first, I would have let him strip me in front of all of you and let him do whatever the hell he wanted to me without a second thought! I would have cursed you, Sakura, and anybody else that tried to stop me! If I would have made it to him first, I would have never thought of the pain you're in, and I wouldn't have cared once I found out! I would have never have seen the way Sasuke never even looks at me (Sakura), how all he talks about is restoring his clan, and how he makes me bow to him and call him Sasuke-dono! I would never...I would have never have found you here, and tried to save you...you would be dead...and I would be broken...even more broken than I am now..."

"Ino...stop..."

"FUCK YOU!" She yelled again and struggled against his grip. "Fuck you and go to hell! Why should I stop? You're dying because you lost Sakura, and now I realize how lost I am without running after Sasuke! Go ahead and die for all I care, and let me die with you! The world will be better off without us hypocrites polluting the fucking earth!"

She stops struggling, opting to just lean against him since her strength was spent. He didn't move either, just letting her calm down and thinking to himself. Funny how that worked, since Ino could hear everything he was thinking. She was too upset to care. His thoughts were all along the lines of how Ino was right, and how he shouldn't have pushed her that far. It was beyond that point now though, and he couldn't go back. Neither could she take back all the things she did in the past.

"Look...there's no need to think about what ifs," She began. "because the what ifs didn't happen. We can only keep moving forward and hopefully make better decisions than we have lately."

"I understand...but that doesn't make it any easier. Knowing that I screwed up my chances with Sakura, and now seeing just how confused I was to have kept running after her in the first place. I spent...no, I wasted the last few years of my life trying to make her happy and this is what I get in the end..."

Ino leaned into his chest a bit more. It was just a jesture of how tired she was. But her eyes wandered finally.

"N-Naruto...why is your mind all black?"

He looked around and saw that she was right. They were standing in pure darkness. "I don't know...it never looked like this before. You said I had stopped breathing right? How long ago was that?"

"I don't know. I woke up at three but...oh my god, Naruto you might have died!"

Naruto sweatdropped. "Uh...that's not good. Maybe we should wake up now."

Ino nodded, releasing herself from him and closing her eyes. She felt herself skyrocketing upwards, spinning out of the darkness and into the path that connected their souls. Several seconds later, she entered her body. She leaned up, cracking her back from the lack of movement over whatever amount of time that had elapsed while she was in Naruto's mind. Glancing at the clock, her fears were confirmed. It was seven in the morning. The beds movements crushed her fears however. She sighed in reliefe and smiled as Naruto slowly yawned and leaned up, sky blue eyes sparkling from the first rays of the morning sun.

"Don't scare me like that again, baka!" Ino scolded politely. Naruto jumped, and looked at her confused. He looked like he had seen a ghost. "Naruto? What's the matter with you?"

"S-stay back! Who are you?" He yelled in a panic, his voice seeming a bit more high pitched than normal.

"Naruto?" Ino's chest started to ache as only one word crossed her mind.

_Amnesia._

* * *

Frustration was over taking her mind. The day had barely even started, and it was her day off mind you, but things felt like they were going to hell. On another note, she finally got Sasuke to go out with her for once, even if it was just to go see her surrogate mother. Sakura walked in melancholy, trying to forget the events of the previous day and focusing all her attention on what she hoped would be good news. They were on their way to the hospital to see if Sakura and Sasuke had finally done what he wanted; Get her pregnant.

_"Restoring my clan is priority, mine and yours." _She remembered him saying that the next day after his return to the village. Sakura was beyond elated to know that he considered her in that regard and it took all her medical training not to slam into a wall with a nosebleed as mental images of their first night together flooded her head.

Other than the countless times that they had already had sex, Sakura didn't feel everything that she thought she would from the raven haired teen. Like at the moment. Though they were on their way to hospital together, Sasuke walked right in front of her as if she were some child to be led through a crowded street. Then, as many times as she had asked him to just walk around the village with her, he had always promptly refused. But at eight in the morning, she asks if he would like to go with her to see if she had finally gotten pregnant and he's out the door before she had even finished dressing. For the sake of her own personal morality, she chalked it all up to his 'Sexy, cool, and silent' persona. But even that was starting to where thin by the second. Unintentionally, she ended up thinking of Naruto again.

_'I bet he would walk around the village with me...crap, hold it together girl! You're with Sasuke, and he's the one that asked you out! This is what you always wanted right?'_

_Right?_

"Sasuke-kun..." Sakura began but stopped as she walked right into Sasuke.

"What was that?" He asked in his usual monotone.

"I...I mean, Sasuke-dono..."

"Hn." Was her reply as he turned ahead and kept walking. She looked down with her hands behind her back, fidgeting.

"Um...I just wanted to tell you I love you."

"Oh, okay." Sasuke didn't stutter or look back. Her heart sank a little as she tried to pry a little more.

"Well? Aren't you going to say it too?" He only slowed a bit, but still never looked at her. After several more seconds of silence, she began to drop the thought all together.

"Me too."

That moment put Sakura on the spot. She faltered in her step, only to have Sasuke stop and glare at her.

_'Is saying I love you that much of a problem for him?' _She wondered.

Sasuke sighed and scratched his head. "If you want we can come back later." His tone held ice to it, telling her that he wasn't too happy with the statement.

"N-no, it's fine. I'm sorry." They continued the rest of the trip in silence, Sakura contemplating when Sasuke had become so...distant.

_He alwasy was._

The day took it's worse turn for Sakura as they sat in front of Tsunade however. Tension filled the room and apprehension took up the forefronts of Tsunade's features.

"Well..." She started. Though she wasn't at all happy about the circumstances that left Naruto the way he was, she was still Hokage and had to act it. She would have loved to put the Uchiha behind bars for a few milliniums or so, but the council would only allow a slap on the wrist for the traitor. "I have some very bad news."

Bad news left her lips in a way that shouted that she didn't care really. Sakura was still her apprentice, and even though she had made some rather...okay, very dumb decisions, she wouldn't do anything to her. Tsunade would let her fall on her own and rise on her own, if she could.

"She's still not pregnant?" Sasuke asked, a bit of anger showing at the last word. A quick glance in Sakura's direction had her squirming in her seat.

"I'm afraid not, but that's not the bad news..." Tsunade continued.

"W-what's wrong, sensei?" Sakura asked, fearing whatever news Tsunade was about to relay.

"It's been a while now, and since you haven't recovered from this, I'm positive it can't be fixed. However, I believe that when you were fighting Sasori during the Kazekage's retrieval mission, you were stabbed just along side your bottom spine, right?"

Sakura slowly nodded, the fear etched in her face showing she knew exactly where her master was going.

"Well...the nerves connected to your pelvis and...other areas were effected. You were temporarily paralysed from the waist down, I remember from your report. We didn't need to test you then, but from your pregnancy test now, I've determined that..."

Sakura broke down crying before Tsunade had even finished speaking. Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he too realized what was being said.

"You're infertile."


	4. Until My Last Breath

_**Having fun? I'm not. Midterms suck. On another note, I threw up a poll for which stories on my profile I should start soon. Like it or not, I plan (or at least I'm trying) to finish this story before Christmas. It shouldn't take that long though. As for this chapter, IT WILL BE EXTREMELY SHORT! You don't see anybody else posting a chapter back to back that fast just to please readers. Yeah, I'm awesome, you love me!**_

Chapter 4: Until My Last Breath

"I'm afraid there's absolutely nothing we can do. With your father being away from the village, you're the only one that can enter his mind and try to pull him back."

It was around noon in Tsunade's office as she addressed Ino. Naruto only stared between the two, not comprehending anything that was going on. Ino, held her head in frustration, tears threatening to fall. It had taken her all of an hour to chase Naruto out of his apartment and around the building before she had laid a hand on him. Then it took a little more time subdue him and take him back into his room. There, she attempted to re-enter his mind to see what was wrong with him. Instead of the easy entry she had gotten earlier, she slammed right into the first of his mental walls. Try all she might, not even the first gate would budge and she was forced out. At first, she had thought that his memory loss was because of his brain not having any blood pumped to it for a long period of time, but it couldn't have been just that if his mind had completely locked her out. It was a defense mechanism, a relapse.

"I tried already Hokage-sama! I couldn't so much as even peek inside!" She cried out.

"Wait, you can read people's minds? Okay, what am I thinking?" Naruto asked eagerly, looking at Ino. Ino shot a look at Tsunade to calm her down right away. Upon revealing what Naruto had been going through, Tsunade had every mind to go after Sasuke and Sakura and making sure that they both were infertile, but when Ino begged her to just help Naruto, she reluctantly remained in her seat.

"You're thinking about ramen." Ino replied angrily, thought Naruto seemed to ignore it.

"Yeah! That's awesome!"

Ino turned her attention back to Tsunade, seeing the sad glare in her eyes. She would bet all her life's savings that Tsunade was thinking of so many ways to hurt Sasuke and Sakura, but due to the law and the damn council, her hands were tied for the most part.

For Ino, all she could think of was how this was going to work. She knew that she couldn't just leave Naruto to himself especially with no memories. The situation was completely unexpected.

"Hey Ino. What were you doing in my apartment anyway?"

"I was-wait, you said my name!" Ino turned hard in her chair, making it groan against the floor as she did. Tsunade looked up as well, snapped out of her thoughts by Ino's sudden movement.

"Yeah, that's your name right? Unless you changed it and didn't tell anyone." He chuckled. Ino almost jumped up and hugged him, and was about to until Tsunade asked a question.

"Naruto, what all do you remember?" Ino instantly settled down, wanting to know the same as well.

Naruto's eyes glazed over. "I remember…seeing Ino and Sakura-chan playing together in the flower field…"

Ino's heart sank. _'He only remembers up til then?'_Tsunade saw the expression on Ino's face and smiled slightly to herself. Apparently, there was something going on in Ino's mind that even she couldn't comprehend yet.

"Ino, don't look so down. That means his memories are coming back, albeit slowly and from the looks of it, far from the past."

"But…that means things are going to get worse before they get better." Ino whispered, only loud enough for the hokage to hear her. Tsunade rose an eyebrow.

"How so?"

"Well…thinking about it, his memories are going to be like reliving the past technically. Things only get worse for him from there and I…I'm the cause of some of it…"

"Hey, I can hear you. And I'm not stupid! I'm not going to be reliving the past!" Naruto shouted. Tsunade and Ino jumped from his outburst. Naruto had his arms crossed and a pout that they hadn't seen on him since he was a genin. "Look at me! I know I'm not still an eight year old about to enter the academy! I just don't remember anything that happened past that point."

Before Tsunade or Ino could say anything, Naruto had jumped up and ran out the office.

"Naruto, wait!" Ino cried running after him.

"Ino, stay with him! Don't let anything bad happen to him!" Tsunade shouted after her.

"I won't!" Ino called without looking back.

"I'm putting my faith in you." Tsunade added. This time Ino paused, a small blush crossing her face as she realized what her master was implying.

"I…" She stopped speaking. It was time for her to take what she was thinking the previous night and evaluate it. Naruto had amnesia. She could easily go tell Hinata or leave it up to Tsunade. She could go home and forget about it all. She had already spoke with Naruto and cleared, or at least settled things between. At that moment, she knew if she went out that door after him, she would be admitting that there was something there that she wanted to be a part of, something that she wouldn't risk losing for the world. Something that she would go to all lengths to achieve. Something that was worth the pain and heartache that was sure to come from running after someone that was going to be sure to push her away for someone else. The world that was Naruto Uzumaki, before he became a Namikaze. Before he rescued Gaara. Before the villagers cheered him at the chunin exam stadiums. Before he lost his love for Sakura…

"I'll stand by him, until my last breath!" Ino declared, eyes shining with all the emotions that spoke volumes to Tsunade. She was ready to move on. Ready to leave Sasuke behind. Ready to move on to a better life. Ready to quit being the spoiled princess, pampered diva. She was ready to give real life a shot.

One night wasn't enough for her to declare her undying love for him, but she was sure in hell willing to spend the rest of her life trying to figure out if it was. If there could be something for them in the future together. Even if it only led to a powerful friendship, she wouldn't give up until she had closure.

* * *

It didn't take long for her to find out where he had went, though from the state he was in, she figured it was long enough for him to get some of his memories back. Slowing to a stride, she approached Naruto, sitting with his knees pulled to his chest on top of the Hokage monument. His head was down, and Ino could see his shoulders bobbing slightly.

_Crying._

Ino wanted to go to him, to comfort him, to anything. She wanted to know what he was remembering, or how far his memories had gotten for him to cry. The scene also brought tears to her as well. It was just like when Naruto had brought Sasuke back. He was alone on the Hokage monument, and Ino was the only one their to comfort him. Things were different now. She'd do more than just let him cry on her shoulder. She'd be his support for whatever was going to happen from that point on.

"Naruto..." She called out to him. The sobs instantly stopped, showing that he hadn't sensed her arrival. After several seconds of silence, Naruto slowly turned to face her.

"What do you want?" He asked, but never looked her in the face. Instead, it seemed like he was facing the ground right in front of her feet.

Ino didn't answer right away. She looked beyond him too, not wanting to see him in such a weak state. Instead, she looked over to the horizon, watching as the noon sun sat far above it. It wasn't as beautiful as a sunrise or a sunset, but it was still a beauty that ninjas didn't get a chance to appreciate. It reminded her of the shinobi sitting several feet in front of her. Hair as gold as the sun, eyes as blue as the skies, and completely un-appreciated.

"How...how far have your memories gotten?" She asked hesitantly. Naruto paused, still not looking at her.

"When we were assigned teams."

A small pain hit her chest, and she held it instinctively. That meant that the memories of her insulting him and throwing things at him had all come back. She was surprised he was still speaking to her knowing that.

"I'm sorry..."

"For what?" Naruto asked as his gaze drifted back over the village. "You threw stones at me just because people told you to. You never called me a demon or anything like that."

The pain in his voice showed clearly at his last statement. _'He had found out about the demon that early?' _She thought sadly. Just like everyone else outside of Sakura, she had only found out when he had revealed it to them the day he was leaving to some island to completely absorb the Nine-tailed demons chakra. Along side everyone else, she hadn't seen him as a demon. But she had also never thought about how his childhood had played out because of that one, deterring fact.

"Ino...you don't seem like the same person that you were back then...but could you please just give me some space for now. I can't believe any of this...even jiji..."

All time seemed to stop. Though his mind hadn't recovered up until the exact time, Naruto knew what had happened to the third hokage. Seeing Tsunade as the new hokage must have risen suspicions, which would also explain why he had left her office so suddenly. Then seeing her face right along side the rest of the hokages must have confirmed it. Naruto knew the third was no longer among them.

"I can't do that." Ino was saying until Naruto stood abruptly.

"It doesn't matter..." He said before he puffed into smoke. Ino's eyes widened and she cursed herself. No matter his age, Naruto was always cunning and quick to use a shadow clone. Going into full panic mode, she shunshined to the bottom of the monument, trying her hardest to catch a glimpse of blonde hair through the bustling streets of early noon Konoha.

_'Shit! Where did he go? Naruto, don't give up on me!' _

_

* * *

_

It was only a matter of time. She was smart enough to realize that. Smart enough to see that her world that she had created in her mind would never hold a happy ending. They were ninja. Happy endings weren't common, and she had set herself up for the biggest let down of her life. That's exactly what sped through her mind as she watched the man she thought she loved walking in front of her towards the gates to the Uchiha compound. That morning was the nightmare she had been thinking of since hearing her sensei's declaration.

_They walked in silence, Sakura shedding silent tears as they walked back towards the Uchiha compound. Sasuke still held his stoic expression, though his anger was visible from the flaring of his nose. The sky still held dark clouds from the previous days thunderstorms, and it fit her mood perfectly. The chill of the October wind once again bathed over her, making her shiver. Funny. It felt just like how Sasuke had looked at her as they left Tsunade's office. Just like how Naruto had sent her away. Just like her heart from falling upon realizations that she was far too blind to accept. It didn't take anytime at all for Sasuke to begin what was obviously meant to happen. As soon as they walked into his room, he strode over to Sakura's side of the room, ripping open her drawers and tossing everything out of them. She had froze on the spot, eyes widening. Then she dropped to her knees, mind collapsing into the only thought she could process._

_He never loved me._

_Opening a storage scroll, Sasuke sealed all her clothes for her, which would be the only thing he EVER did for her. Fist clenched tightly over the scroll, he turned and faced her, silently telling her to get up. She applied, standing on shaky legs as tears flooded her face. Her voice finally became audible._

_"Wha...why? Sasuke-kun?"_

_Sasuke didn't care about the name any longer. Coming from her would have it mean absolutely nothing. "You're smart Sakura. You knew this would happen as soon as we left the Hokage's office. Close your mouth and start walking." He spoke evenly, scaring her to the core. He wasn't angry or happy. It was the tone he used when they were kids._

_"No...no, please Sasuke-kun! We can work this out! I...I love you so much, I don't want to lose you! You...you can get another woman impregnated, and I can still be your lover! Didn't any of those times mean anything to you? Don't you fell anything for me?" _

_Sasuke looked directly into her eyes. Her pleading, bloodshot eyes. Eyes filled with what she thought was true love and passion. An everlasting passion for the person she would've died for. "I would be lying if I said I didn't..." Sakura's eyes lit up, her lips trembling from anxiousness. "But I would be lying if I said I still do. There was a time when I did think of you intimately, but like I said before; Restoring my clan is priority. Besides, me and you have one thing in common." He paused, allowing Sakura to absorb everything that was being said. "Neither of us knew what true love was to begin with. I never loved you. Liked, occasionally, but never loved." _

Those were the final words spoken to her by the Uchiha before he put her on the opposite side of the Uchiha gates and locked them. Several things he said clicked in her mind. She was smart enough to see it coming. There were times that she knew one-hundred percent that he never loved her. Her mind, her constant lock on the past, and her unwavering 'determination' prevented her from believing what she knew. It even prevented her from believing that Naruto was the person that she should have ran after. Yeah, she knew it, the entire time. But since her childhood, her past, she had always wanted Sasuke. She had believed him to be the greatest thing to walk the shinobi earth. And Naruto was just a dead last that would never amount the shit compared to Sasuke.

The full circle collided with her, making her stumble as she wandered the village aimlessly. Sakura dropped to her knees, hugging herself tightly. She trembled and began to sniff. The past was over. She had no choice anymore. Sasuke was now forever gone from her life, and there wasn't anything she could do to change that. From what she had heard from Naruto the previous night, he was gone too. The lives she had toyed with had led her to be alone, in the world that she couldn't blame. She had forsaken herself, and the consequences rested solely on her shoulders.

Manipulating Naruto's emotions, hurting him as bad as she did, all for the person that would turn around and throw her same emotions into the ground.

_I never loved you. Liked, occasionally, but never loved. _

Sasuke Uchiha had taken her heart. Naruto had brought it back. She had snatched it from him and given back to the same person who had stolen it. And now it was destroyed. Messed up almost beyond repair.

She knew it was far too cliche. She would spend her time chasing after her dream boy while Naruto would chase after her. She would get the person she's chasing just to find out he wasn't what she had wanted. Sasuke would dump her and then she would realize her feelings for Naruto and they would live happily ever after.

_Cliche. Only in fairy tales._

Naruto had made it clear that he didn't want to be with her anymore, and he had every right to feel that way. She had willingly let him get to that point, hopping that Sasuke would prove to be the person she had always dreamed him to be. But reality was what it was. She had lost, dealing out all of her cards in a gamble. A game of chance that was rigged for her to fall.

_'Oh god, how could I have been so foolish? So blind? What have I done to my life? What have I done to Naruto-kun?' _Mind and heart racing, she realized that once and for all, she was alone. _'Let me go back! Please, let me go back to when we were still genin! Let me go back to when Naruto first asked me on a date! I'll say yes, I promise! I'll treat him better and I won't run after Sasuke anymore! I...I don't want to be alone...kami-sama please...take this away...take this pain...my sorrow, my ignorance and arrogance, my lust, my heart! Take it all and lay it in Naruto's hands!'_

The rain had started again, mixing with the blossom haired teens tears. She didn't move, instead staying on her knees, looking up into the sky. Her eyes were almost dead. As dead as Naruto's had been the night before. The rain was freezing cold but she didn't even shiver. It was over. The meaning of everything she did was for Sasuke. Now it was all over. She would wake up with no purpose, from that point on. She would wake up in the solidified future, forced to look back on the shattered past. Look back on the what ifs and could've beens. Look back on the days when she used to say she loved Sasuke. Look back on the days when Naruto had proved that he would die for her...

* * *

Naruto walked through the streets, bumping into people without caring. His memories were slowly but surely returning. They were already up to the point when they had faced off against Zabuza and Haku. Despair ran through his mind and veins. Knowing that he had amnesia only put him into a neutrality. He should have been as hyper as he was when he was kid, but all he could think about was what had happened to him for him to lose his memory in the first place. Why Ino had been the only one there when he woke up. Following his memories, he came to the only conclusion that would allow him to cope with the situation. Being oblivious to everything that had previously happened, Naruto's actions would rival that of a lamb marching into a den of lions.

_'I...I need to find Sakura-chan.'_


	5. When They Cry

_**Well, I see a lot of my readers are quite the perverts indeed! The poll (which got more attention than I thought it would) is showing that people want to see a harem! And now that I've finished mid-terms, I can actually think again! **_

_**Omigod, I'm popular enough to start a special thanks section! Le gasp!**_

_**Suna No Ken**__**: I love reading your reviews! You're always so energized! It makes me happy to keep writing this story! Plus, those last few questions you asked had me worried I was making this too obvious! Time to up the game! Congrats on being the only person to review each chapter! Diligence is beautiful. (To authors)**_

_**Flamenvy963**__**: For the record, I checked out one of your stories! Finish it. Or else. The last review made me laugh because I'm pretty much going to answer your statement (?) in this chapter! **_

_**To others: Come on, I wouldn't forget. All reviews do help, especially to stories that are in progress. Even if you don't review, shooting me a pm of what you think needs to be better wouldn't hurt either.**_ _**And technically, you're always guessing what might happen next! I'm trying to add more mystery (probably not) to confuse you! Dam you and your eerily close intuition world! Oh, and Japan, France, Australia and Indonesia, thank you for reading! (And all the rest of you, but I'll be naming you out in fours!)**_

_**ENOUGH! ON TO THE STORY!**_

**Chapter 5: When They Cry**

The clouds that loomed over Konoha did not leave. No bright light shined down on the sole hope of the leaf as he sat in the small stand of Ichiraku's Ramen. No small violen played as he sat, putting the pieces of his memory together. Even with the clouds, no rain poured to accompany his solemn mood. It was just a cold, bitter October day with a depressed Naruto sulking about the village. The villagers had watched as he walked with his hands in his pockets and head down, much how he did when he was little. This time he didn't feel any glares though. It was as if the village had changed completely from what he remembered. But it didn't help his mood. He had went over to Sakura's place just to find that she had moved out. That was all he got out of the elder female Haruno as she promptly shut the door in his face, mumbling about annoying teenagers and cold October winds. Afterwards, his only thoughts were to go drown himself in ramen.

He had already told Ayame and Teuchi the situation, and though they were both reluctant to believe at first, the look in his eyes told them otherwise. He didn't remember anything past returning to the village after the Zabuza mission. So far, the memories most current to him were pretty good. On the inside he hoped that they would continue to be as such. He smiled when the villagers of wave cheered him. It showed him that the villagers of his own village could have come to the conclusion that he wasn't the demon. But the memories were from when he was still twelve, almost thirteen.

"Hey, nee-chan." He spoke low, voice sounding like a deep drawl. His gaze remained in the untouched bowl of ramen in front of him. Ayame looked up from stirring more ramen, casting a sorrowful look his way. Naruto's memory loss had come as shock to her, but under her fathers orders, she reframed from telling him any of the events that had recently happened. Teuchi had said that if his memories were coming back, then let them. Naruto would have to sort through them himself, especially the recent events. "How old am I?"

Ayame frowned again. It was painful to see him like this. As long as she knew him, he was never as refined as this. After accepting, though not liking, the thought of him having amnesia, she thought for sure that he would act as hyper as ever. But that wasn't the case and the blonde seemed more far away than when he had locked himself up in his apartment. "You turned 17 yesterday Naru-kun. Why do you ask?"

"Because I just remembered some things that happened, but it seems like it was still long ago. I got four more years of memories to catch up on..." He paused, lazily stirring his ramen. "I wonder how long it took for the villagers here to start accepting me."

A crunch made Naruto look up. Ayame had unintentionally crushed a pre-made pack of ramen. On the inside, Naruto let out a small yelp at the waste of ramen. "Hey, you okay nee-chan?"

Ayame shook her head and dusted her hands off. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just give me a minute Naruto, I need to get something from the back." Ayame left Naruto alone in the front. Several seconds later, Naruto could make out the faint sounds of sobbing.

* * *

He was one for simple things. Lounging about the village. Sleeping in. Generally being lazier than the entire populace of the village. On October 11th, however, there were two things that troubled him. One being his blond comrade and close friend, Naruto. The other being his blond comrade and secret crush Temari. Sighing, he deemed the whole thing too troublesome to dwell on. Of course he wouldn't let it go, but he decided to put priorities first. So far for the day, he had been called in to the Hokage's office. For the million times that he'd been there, he knew that she was going to tell him to escort Temari from the gates to her office. It was a monthly thing, and Tsunade only requested his presence as such. There was no surprise that Shikamaru was...well, surprised at learning information that he wasn't expecting that morning accompanied with the presence of Temari.

"Naruto...has amnesia?" He spoke with more confusion than he ever let show.

"I'm afraid so. Since it's from a psychological shut down, all we can do is wait for him to recover on his own. I would much rather prefer having him in the hospital until he's regained his memories, but knowing him, he'd escape every chance he gets. I already assigned Ino to look after him, but other than that, there's nothing that can be done."

Shikamaru groaned. "Then why are you telling me?"

"You're his friend aren't you? I want you to tell everyone else what's going on. I'm sure Ino can handle it, but I think it's best if he has more than one person looking out for him in his condition. I trust you and the rest of your friends, and I know Naruto does too." Tsunade smiled weakly. "As of now, he doesn't even know who I am..." A tear rolled down her cheek and she turned from Shikamaru. The lazy nin looked down, knowing what the Hokage was feeling. Naruto was the reason Tsunade was Hokage in the first place. His will, his determination, his drive. It had inspired her to stop living in the past and to take responsibility for herself. He was the closest person to her outside of Shizune since Jiraiya died.

He bowed to the Hokage. "I'm on it lord Hokage. You have nothing to worry about." Tsunade looked up quickly, not expecting such a straight forward approach from Shikamaru. Wiping her eyes, she smiled at him.

"Thank you. You're dismissed."

Several minutes after leaving the Hokage's office, Shikamaru found himself drifting towards the gate to pick up Temari. The thought of Naruto having amnesia...no, being effected to such a degree by the recent events. It was bit much to take in so early in the day. Up ahead, he caught sight of Temari, her usual arrogant, sexy smirk adourning her lips. Her hands folded under her chest, and slight bend to her hips. A small smirk found its way onto his own lips and he spoke the words he knew would get under her skin.

"Troublesome woman."

That was her que to narrow her eyes at him, her smirk never faltering. She walked towards him, bumping him with her hips and walking past him.

"Took you long enough. Why didn't they send you to the village to get me?" She asked walking ahead of him.

"Prior engagements. Things have been kind of...iffy lately."

"Oh? How so?"

Shikamaru had slighty ignored the question. He was looking down in thought. However, he looked up just in time to come face to face with a bored looking Temari. She was staring him in the eyes, and he knew she was actually analyzing him. "Spit it out."

"It's nothing of your concern really. Personal things with a certain person in the village." Shikamaru sweatdropped. For some reason, he had a feeling Temari wasn't going to drop it that easily. To his surprise, Temari smiled.

"If you don't think you can tell me then I won't pry then." She turned around and kept walking towards the Hokage's office. Shikamaru blinked.

_'What the hell's gotten into her?'_ He shrugged and followed after her. It took them a little longer to reach the tower than it took for Shikamaru to reach the gates. They usually took their time, knowing that a lot of paper work was involved in these diplomatic meetings. Regardless of their titles, Shikamaru and Temari were still teens, and they didn't like doing anything too tedious, or at all in Shikamaru's case.

Walking into the Hokage's office, they found her standing across the room to their left holding a kunai. They instantly dropped into fighting stances, Temari gripping her fan and Shikamaru kneeling, preparing to perform a shadow bind if necessary. Their eyes followed the gaze of the Hokage, only to find Shizune in the Hokage's line of sight. A kunai was in her hand as well, and in the other, a bottle of what was no doubt sake.

"Shizune, you better bring that bottle to me right now or I swear to Kami you'll be the next one on your operating table!"

Shizune, who was used to any and all threats from Tsunade, physical or not, just scoffed at her. "You and I both know that no matter how strong you are, you couldn't catch me if your life depended on it! Now stop acting like a baby and do something about Naru-kun!"

"For the thousandth time, I told you there's nothing we can do! It's a mental defense and Inoichi is still not back in the village! Now give me my sake dammit!"

Shizune smirked at her best friend. "No, I don't think I will. Alcohol can cause brain damage, and I don't want two people with amnesia running around here."

The look on Tsunade's face was priceless to only Shizune. Shikamaru and Temari took a step back, seeing the busty blondes eye brow twitch. "Shizune. I'm Hokage now. I have a village to protect. You _know _what happened _to the last village._"

The smirk on Shizune's face turned into a daring scowl, her eyes narrowed at Tsunade. "Try me."

Shikamaru knew that now was the time to leave. "Uh, lady Hokage, we'll come back later." He grabbed Temari's arm and pulled her from the room. Shutting the door behind them, they darted from the building. As soon as they had made it out the front door, a wall from the Hokage's office exploded. Tsunade's voice was heard seconds later, followed by Shizune's laughter.

"GET BACK HERE DAMMIT!"

Temari sweat dropped and looked at Shikamaru. He smirked. "Like I said, personal things."

They began walking trough the village with no clear destination for a while. It only took several minutes for Temari to inquire on a few things however.

"What's wrong with Naruto?" She asked bluntly. Shikamaru knew it was coming, and had been ready to tell her the truth. She wouldn't let go of the matter, even though she had proved him wrong earlier, and she would be finding out sooner or later from one of Naruto's other friends anyway. The only reason Shikamaru wanted to keep it from Temari in the first place was because of the fact that if Gaara got wind of the situation, Konoha might have another war on its hands.

"Naruto...has amnesia." He began. Before Temari asked, he finished explaining, going all the way back to when Naruto first brought Sasuke back to the village. Through the entire story, Shikamaru could feel the building ki radiating from the Suna kunoichi. At one point he saw her reach for her fan and he could only guess that she was preparing to go straight to the Uchiha compound and dragging Sasuke and Sakura by their privates all the way to the Kazekage. Being the genius that he was, he wasn't far off.

"So I can't kill them?" She sighed as they neared a familiar ramen stand.

"No. The Hokage would have beat you to it already." They entered Ichiraku's, Ayame giving Shikamaru his usual greeting. He stopped by occasionally, but mainly whenever Temari was in the village. It was a cheap place, and an easy way for him to pay for them both. As usual, they ate their seperate ramen, only discussing things like relations between villages and such. But when the conversation drew onto Naruto, she winced. Shikamaru instantly noticed.

"Hey, Ayame-san...you know what's going on already?"

Ayame looked at her father nervously, but he nodded his approval. She sighed and wiped her hands on a towel before moving close enough for only the two to hear. "Naruto was here earlier today. He told us what happened to him when he went to see the Hokage this morning. He knows about his amnesia, but he doesn't remember everything. When he was here, he was talking about his mission to Wave country and how the people there cheered his name when they were leaving."

"I remember that...it was his first real mission." Shikamaru smirked at the thought but it quickly subsided. "Things only got worse for him after that."

"I know...that's why it's so hard to not tell him the truth." She said with tears in her eyes.

"Why aren't you telling him the truth?" Temari asked with a hint of anger in her voice. Ayame swallowed at Temari's tone but Shikamaru calmed her down.

"Don't get mad with Ayame, Temari. The Ichiraku's have been here for Naruto as long as the Third Hokage had. Besides, think about it. If Naruto's happy right now with just knowing that people cheered his name in Wave, he's probably wondering when did this village accept him. Plus, if he's regaining his memories, he'll need to sort through them himself, and telling him something from further down the line might make him upset. Especially the things I told you on the way here."

Temari grumbled, knowing Shikamaru was right, but not liking it nonetheless. Naruto had done so much for not just their village, but for her family in general. Bringing Gaara back to humanity may have been the greatest feat in the world to her. He didn't stop there though, and continued on to somehow defeat Madara Uchiha, drag Sasuke's ungrateful ass back to the village and save the Shinobi world. So it pissed her off that no one in the village was going to help him trough the problems he had.

She felt unrelenting anger towards Sasuke and Sakura. More so towards the pink haired kunoichi. She had high respect for Sakura because of her aid in the Gaara retrieval mission and from the declarations of Lady Chiyo. At first she didn't believe what Sakura had done. From back then, she had actually seemed like she cared for Naruto, even if just as a close friend. The way she looked at him sometimes hinted at more, but hearing what she did only three weeks ago was like a slap to the face. Temari had found it hard to like leaf ninja's until she had met Naruto, and now it felt like she was falling back onto her same hatred. For all she knew, Shikamaru, Shizune, the Hokage, and Naruto were the only true respectable people in the village. Oh, and that Rock Lee kid that Gaara said was the weirdest thing to walk the planet.

"Hey, if Naruto was here earlier, then where did he go?" Shikamaru asked.

Ayame paled. "I just realized this...I didn't think much of it at the time but...he said he's going to look for somone."

* * *

He found her.

She was sitting on the swing outside of the academy. The look of her made his heart ache. Not only did she look like him when he was younger, she looked like she had died thousands of times over on the inside...wait, that was just like him then. He used no chakra as he approached her, letting her hear his footsteps as he neared her. She slowly looked up, eyes red and swollen from shedding so many tears.

"Sakura-chan? What's the matter? What are you doing here alone?"

"Naruto-kun..." She whispered. Naruto's heart skipped a beat at hearing her call him that. "Now I'm seeing him everywhere. Kami, why are you so cruel?" She cried out dropping her head again.

"What are you talking about? I'm right here! This is real Sakura-chan!" He said cheerfully but the worry was still evident in his voice. Sakura looked up like she had seen a ghost. Naruto just gave his same goofy grin and chuckled. "You look terrible! What'd you do, fight Ino again like you did at the chunin exams?" Sakura huffed at the lame joke.

"Baka..." She mumbled. Naruto smiled.

"At least that hasn't changed." He let silence fall between them. Sakura sniffed and wiped her eyes before looking Naruto in the eyes.

"Naruto-kun...what are you doing here? I thought you would hate me after what happened..."

"Hate you? Why would I ever hate you? What happened?" He asked, only hearing the part about him hating her. He was still thinking in the naivety of a pre-teen. Sakura rose an eyebrow, not wanting to reflect on the things said or done in the past three weeks. "Sakura-chan, what happened?" He asked again, only inquiring about why she was crying. Looking into his eyes, his clear blue, crystal like eyes, Sakura let herself go again. She threw her arms around his neck and cried in his shoulder.

"I've been so stupid Naruto-kun! I've been so stupid and selfish and ignorant and...and...a bitch!"

"Sakura-chan, you are not a bitch!" Though he said it, he looked around nervously as if a bolt of lightning was going to strike or something.

"Yes I am! I've been so evil to you Naruto-kun! Everything I said yesterday and what happened three weeks ago! I would take it all back to be with you now! Sasuke left me! He didn't even give it a second thought!"

Once again, Naruto only listened to certain details. "You were with Sasuke?" He asked dejectedly.

Sakura frowned in confusion. "Naruto-kun...you know this..."

Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Uh...not really...the thing is...I may have amnesia."

_Click._

The light bulb instantly lit up over Sakura's head. "You...you have amnesia?"

"Yep. My memories are coming back, but it's still taking a little time."

Sakura frowned. 'I can't be selfish. I've already messed up with Naruto-kun and I can't take advantage of him like this...'

"You shouldn't cry Sakura. It's not like you. You're stronger than this." Naruto whispered in her ear. It sent pleasurable chills down her spine. She shivered from goosebumps rising on her skin. Unintentionally, she let out a blissful sigh.

"Naruto-kun...I want to ask you something...no, a few things." She looked him in the eyes. They were almost back to the shining blue she was used to. It made her heart warm and she wanted to smile, but knowing that it was her fault for taking away that shine in the first place had forced her to look away.

"Go ahead, anything." He said just as sincerely. Because he was still remembering, he still thought that he was in love with Sakura. His attention hunger was back, albeit reduced slightly because of the villagers not trying to kill him every ten minutes. His neautral thinking was starting to vanish. Mixing together his memories and the calmness of the village, Sakura showing even the slightest affection to him took the forefront. Everything else was forgotten to him, even seeing the child named Gaara transforming before his eyes.

"Okay..." She grew silent. "You know I've treated you bad...well, terrible in the past. Would you be willing to forgive me and give me another chance to make things better?"

Naruto let out a small chuckle. "Of course! You don't need to apologize anyway, Sakura-chan! I can't ever be mad at you!"

Sakura held her chest. The previous nigth flashed into her mind. _'He didn't say that last night...oh god, I pushed him that far.'_

Before Naruto could ask what was wrong, she asked her next question. "Would you care...if I could have kids or not?"

Naruto blushed, scratching his cheek. Sakura looked down, thinking that he was hesitating because the answer was yes. Instead,

"Not at all. It would be sweet if I could have a son or daughter, but being with you...er, I mean hypothetically of course, would be priority. We could always adopt."

She was on the verge of tears again.

"Why...why do you like me?" She asked looking away. Her stomach felt light, as if she hadn't meant to ask the question.

"Well...I'd say I love you, not like you." Sakura's head shot up. "And it's because I know what you're capable of. I know how you really are too. You're kind Sakura, beautiful and smarter than me and Sasuke-teme. You're braver than anyone thought, especially the way you fought those Sound ninja and then even tried to protect Sasuke from Gaara! You were awesome!"

As soon as he was about to go into a rant, Sakura dove onto him again. "Naruto-kun, I love you too! I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry!"

"S...Sakura-chan?" Naruto stayed on his back in shock.

_'She...loves me?'_

* * *

Her mood had darkened as she continued to search for the blonde. She had been delayed when her mother had asked her to come back home and tend to the shop for a few hours. The sun was beginning to set. The chirp of crickets and cecidas were starting to fill the arm in a rhythmic beat. The wind even blew mildly, it's whistle seeming to flow with the metronome. Ino loved nature, and especially the sound of cecidas. They fit the night so well, and all though they symbolized grief, she found great comfort in hearing them. Tonight, however, she wished they would be silent so she could try to find her comrade.

_"Higurashi no naku koro ni..." _(When the cecidas cry) She thought, "When they cry, a person's heart is shattered. When they're silent, a person's heart is gone. When they die, a person's heart is returned..." She remembered it from one of her old mythology books. She had never believed in it, until she came across a scene at the academy that would stay forever etched in her memories. Sakura and Naruto were there.

Lip to lip.

_The cecidas are crying..._

* * *

"Is there anything in particular that you want by calling this meeting together, _Uchiha?_" Hiashi Hyuga spat with malice as he sat in his rightful spot on the council.

"That's Uchiha-san to you, Hyuga-sama." The council elder Koharu spoke in a hauty pride that would make him seem like he was from the Uchiha clan.

Hiashi narrowed his eyes but said nothing more. Tsunade looked between the two bored, well aware of the hatred between the two. On her left, the council elder Homura cleared her throat.

"Please refraim from asking questions until Uchiha-dono has spoken." Ki flooded the room from almost every shinobi present, including the Hokage, at hearing the old kunoichi done so much respect to Sasuke, which she blatantly never showed to Tsunade herself. "Go ahead, Uchiha-dono." She continued, starting to sweat.

Sasuke gave his usual 'hn' before standing in the center of the room where everyone could see him. "I wanted to call this meeting regarding recent events." He spoke disdainfully, as if the words were a rotten food that he was spitting out. "Due to a medical incident a while back, my current slav...mate, is unable to produce children. I had wanted to settle down with miss Haruno and starting a single, normal family. However, that is impossible."

"What the hell does that have to do with us?" Tsume Inuzuka, Kiba's mother growled out. Several other council members present voiced their agreements, however, Tsunade reluctantly silenced them.

"I wish to push a decree." He stated bluntly. The room instantly exploded in yelling. Sasuke stood calmly amidst the yells, eyes never leaving the Hokage.

"Shut up!" Tsunade yelled, trying hard not to punch anything. "Look, I haven't had any sake all day, and I damn sure don't want to be here all day. Let the piece of shit speak." She said with as much authority as a Hokage could muster. Everyone fell silent, even Sasuke taking a small gulp.

"Under the Third Act of Federal Clan legislation, I am entitled to exactly one decree. This decree is only effective to those within my clan and those who deal directly with my clan."

"We know the laws, Uchiha, get on with it." Tsunade snapped.

"My apoplogies, Hokage-sama. Under the Federal Clan Resoration Act, I am entitled to choose several females to aid in the ressurection of my clan from several clans inside the village, and the clan heads must at least have a meeting in order to accept or decline. This would fall under directly dealing with my clan, am I correct?"

"Absolutely Uchiha-dono!" Homura piped up again, having more ki directed at her.

"It's come to my knowledge after reading the Sole Kekkei Genkai Clause that I, as a clan head, am to be allowed _any _type of decree that I want, as long as it also aids in the creation of more sharingon, in this case."

A feeling of dread began to settle on the room as Sasuke smirked. "Through all three of these articles, I wish to decree that any female, as long as they are of a clan, can not be denied to me as mates in the revival of the Uchiha clan and the restoration of the Sharingon."

The gasps and shouts that filled the room only seemed to make Sasuke's smirk grow. Tsunade slammed a hand down on the table in front of her, silencing the room once again. She glared at Sasuke, making his smirk fade.

"You must be out of your fucking mind to think that I'd let you do something like this." She spoke low, venom dripping from every word. To her dismay, the elders spoke before Sasuke could dig his own grave.

"Lord Hokage, you must! Uchiha-dono has done all the proper research and he falls under all the required categories!" Koharu spoke in an even drawl.

"Yes, and if you deny Uchiha-dono this, what could stop you from denying all the rest of these clans their rightful decrees?" Homura added.

"None of our clans would decree something so revolting!" Chouza Akimichi bellowed.

"It doesn't matter what you would decree. What matters is the law! Uchiha-dono is entitled to this one request, as stated in the aforementioned articles!" Koharu rose his voice to get his point across.

"Enough!" Tsunade called, holding her head as a headache formed. She sighed, knowing that they could go on debating the situation all night, but she had other duties to attend to. And like it or not, Sasuke had followed all the guidelines to legally request this. "I assume you already have the paperwork..." She mumbled.

"Hokage-sama, you can't be serious!" Shikaku Nara asked. Though he had no daughter of his own, there was one female kunoichi he considered a daughter. And if he knew any better, her name would be brought up in the councile meeting.

"He's legally tied my hands, Nara-san. There's nothing I can do." _'At the moment.' _She thought to herself.

After being presented with the documents, she thoroughly read over them, just in case there was more foul play than what was already being imposed. Finding none, she hesitantly stamped the paper. Every face in the room outside of the elders and Sasuke's held deep despair. No one could place what this exactly meant. Tsunade rolled the scroll violently before standing sharply and practically running from the council room. Homura picked up the scoll and smiled.

"These are the names of the very lucky and privaleged women who will be aiding Uchiha-dono in the revival of his clan and the restoration of the sharingon!"

TenTen Hiroshi. "What?" Nato Hiroshi, her father leaped from his seat, drawing the katana in a natural movement. "No, you will not lay a finger on my daughter you scum!"

"Nato-san, please sit down. There's nothing that can be done at this point." Shikaku stated grimly. His fist were clenched on his lap, out of view.

Hana Inuzuka. "You piece of shit, I'll rip the skin from your dick off!" Tsume yelled and lunged forward, Shikaku stopping her inches from Sasuke with is shadow. "You can't have her! I won't let you!" She struggled against the shadow bind, actually having enough strength to twitch a few times. After several moments of fruitless struggling, Tsume returned to her seat, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Hinata Hyuga. The only sound that escaped Hiashi was a low growl. He had his arms folded, but it was visible that he was restraining himself from any movement. His byakugan flared several times. _'Just when I decide to do right by her...' _

"Finally," Homura was finishing the list, proudly saying each name and only getting happier with each reactiong. "the last person who will be joining Uchiha-dono is Ino Yamanaka! All persons mentioned are to be notified tonight, packed and lead to Uchiha-dono's residence first thing in the morning."

Chouza was the first to jump up, but Shikaku's hand on his shoulder stopped him. All Shikaku did was shake his head, before leading Chouza out of the council room. No one saw the blood dripping from his fist as he gripped a kunai tighter than ever before.

_This is not the end..._


	6. Planning For Disaster

**Well, last chapter was the first to get mixed reviews, which I had expected. I didn't expect so many to downright hate it though. I took that gamble, because I know the whole Sasuke thing is cliche. But come on, you don't expect me to completely follow the others do you? I wanted to use this cliche event to see if I could come up with a solution that hasn't been used yet. So, did this chapter early, to appease some of the anger radiating from my viewers. This story will be winding down soon, and next chapter will be the flash back that many have asked for.**

**Chapter 6: Planning for Disaster**

'_Just what the fuck is going on here?' _Sasuke thought as he stood in front of the Uchiha compound, two very pissed off teens in front of him. It wasn't even an hour after the council meeting and he was already in another bad position.

"You heard us Uchiha. What the _hell _do you think you're trying to pull?" Neji asked with his arms folded, a slight shiver from trying to hold his anger.

"Why even bother asking, Neji? Why don't we just rip him to bits and feed his ass to the pups?" Kiba growled sadistically.

Sasuke dug in his ear, seemingly dismissing them. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You bastard!" Kiba growled, preparing to lunge forward, however Neji stopped him.

"Calm down Inuzuka. Let's hear what this degenerate has to say."

"Degenerate?" Sasuke asked with an arrogant smirk. "With your second-rate kekkei genkai, you really think you should be calling me a degenerate, Hyuga?"

Kiba glanced at Neji, expecting him to go off. Instead, Neji smirked. "Yes, and I suppose your tainted eyes that made you damn near go blind would be better than my eyes that just seem to gain more and more sight as I get stronger. Oh what am I to do with such perfect eyes?" To end his point, Neji activated his byakugan and slid into the jyuken stance. Kiba smiled and cracked his knuckles. Sasuke only growled and turned around.

"Get off my property."

"Oh, so the Uchiha is scared of a little sparring match huh? So much for your pride, or whatever's left of it." Kiba called, a serious glare adorning his face. Even Neji was a little shocked at the statement.

Sasuke spun back around, flashing through handsigns. Seconds later, a fireball engulfed the two teens. With a huff, Sasuke watched the ball of fire wither away. Kiba and Neji were gone. Drawing his katana, he blocked a clawed slash from Kiba as he fell from above. Turning on his heel, he dodged several strikes from Neji.

"How dare you attack a clan head?" Sasuke grunted having difficulty dodging all of Neji's attacks. Neji in return jumped back towards Kiba.

"Attack? Why, didn't you hear Kiba say this was sparring? Besides, wasn't it you who attacked first, _Uchiha?_"

Sasuke growled in his throat and pointed his sword at the two. "Fine, I'll play your little game but don't blame me when you're six feet under."

Kiba cracked his neck. "I'm gonna enjoy this. I won't kill you though. No, that honor belongs to Hana!"

"I believe Hinata and TenTen will be wanting to aid in the Uchiha's disappearance as well." Neji added.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed and then he smiled. "So that's what this is about." He began to laugh. "Well then. If that's the case, then come on! Nothing you do here will change what's already been decided." Sasuke pulled out shuriken and threw them. Neji deflected them easily while Kiba weaved through them, headed towards the raven haired teen. Sasuke activated his sharingon as Kiba began to attack.

Kiba slashed rapidly at the Uchiha, but every move was dodged. Moving to the side, he allowed Neji to rush in and continue where he left off. Sasuke took several strikes as he wasn't prepared for the switch. With several chakra points closed off, all Sasuke could do was retreat. He jumped back several feet and channeled lightning chakra into his blade. Neji looked at Kiba who nodded. Neji relaxed and stood up straight, folding his arms. Kiba was going to fight alone. Sasuke growled, thinking that they weren't taking him seriously anymore.

"Don't underestimate me Uchiha. Naruto's not the only one that's gotten stronger." Kiba whistled and Akamaru landed next to him. Popping a pill into Akamaru's mouth, he called the 'beast man clone' technique. With two feral looking Kibas standing side by side, Sasuke actually sweated. Kiba scoffed in his mind, seeing that Sasuke hadn't even activated the mangekyou. He was still underestimating him. "Hang back Akamaru." Kiba ordered before rushing in first.

Sasuke slashed at Kiba, only to hit air as it was apparent that Kiba was much faster now. Appearing behind Sasuke, Kiba prepared to slash through. However, Sasuke back kicked Kiba. Kiba burst into smoke, revealing a bunshin. Moving to the side, Sasuke dodged as the real Kiba smashed into the ground where he had just been standing. With a burst of speed, Kiba twirled and called 'Gatsuuga!' On both sides of Sasuke, Kiba and Akamaru became drilling blurs and smashed into him. Spinning around in mid-air, they came back around. Sasuke flipped in the air and slashed at one of the incoming blurs. Sparks flew as the attacks collided. At the last second, Sasuke activated the mangekyou sharingon. In a burst of light, Akamaru fell from the sky covered in black flames. Kiba stopped mid attack and dropped down next to his partner.

"AKAMARU!" He screamed and was about to try to douse the flames on the screeching animal. Sasuke growled and held his head as the use of amaterasu caused his eyes to ache.

'_Son of a bitch! He actually made me use it…' _Sasuke's thoughts were interrupted as the flames began to fade. His eyes widened as he saw Neji's byakugan glowing bright silver. "What the fuck is that?" He demanded.

"Didn't I tell you already Uchiha? As I get stronger, so does my byakugan. It's only natural that a simple trick such as that is nothing compared to me. Now if you're done sparring with Kiba, maybe we could start the real match."

Kiba picked up the unconscious animal and laid him to the side. He stood back next to Neji, face set in a deadly glare. Neji soon stopped smiling too, taking his fighting stance. "I promise you, if I have to shut down your entire body and rip you apart on the cellular level, I will _kill _you before I allow you to defile either Hinata or TenTen."

* * *

All who approached the office felt it. A dark presence, malicious but not completely evil. More furious than anything. Older generations would have connected it to the Kyuubi if they didn't know that Naruto had already absorbed it's chakra. However, most shinobi knew exactly what this oppressive aura was, having felt it many times, and even some experienced it.

The Hokage was pissed.

No one had ever felt it this bad before. It was like waves of killing intent, layered with nightmares, pain, and the unforgiving sorrow of thousands of mercilessly killed innocents. In general, the next person to piss Tsunade off was going to experience a fate far worse than hell itself. On another related note, Shizune was just as pissed off as the Hokage as she paced the room furiously, cursing the Uchiha and any other random thing she could think of.

"Son of a bitch brat! How the hell does he get away with shit like this? Disgusting, repulsive, shit eating BASTARD! And this fucking rain! Why the fuck has it rained five damn days in a row? As if the world wasn't depressing enough!" She paused. "AND THIS DAMN SANDAL IS TOO BIG!" She kicked her foot, sending the sandal flying into the wall.

"Shizune, sit down and shut the hell up!" Tsunade snapped, getting a nasty glare from Shizune. She did as she was told anyway, flopping down onto the sofa on the left side of the room.

"Fucking tempers." She mumbled. Tsunade would have found her apprentices new found anger quite amusing if she wasn't in a worse mood herself.

It had been almost thirty minutes since the council meeting had ended, and she was sure some of the clan heads had already went to inform their families about the proposal.

Tsume would most likely have alerted her family immediately, giving Hana time to vent before the inevitable happened. And if she knew her ninja like she thought she did, Kiba would be on his way to the Uchiha as she pondered the happenings.

Next, she expected Hiashi to break the news to Hinata without sugar coating anything. Hinata would probably break down and of course Neji would know right away. Which meant, two of her ninja were currently on their way to the Uchiha compound.

Nato would beat around the bush with TenTen. He would try to find a way to break it to her slowly, and of course TenTen would know that her father was hiding something. Sweatdropping, the image of TenTen holding a katana to Nato's…favorite appendage flashed through her mind. TenTen would also go to Neji, if not, take things into her own hands.

Finally, Shikaku and Chouza wouldn't tell Ino directly. They'd probably go through her mother first, which would mean that Ino would be the last to find out about what happened.

With a sigh, she picked up the cup of tea Shizune had brought her and sipped it. She opened a drawer on her desk and pulled out several files. Flipping through them, she triple checked the Uchiha's declarations, hoping to find a loop hole of any kind. It was just impossible, and she was starting to lose hope. A tear came to corner of her eye.

What type of Hokage couldn't even protect several of their own kunoichi from their own laws. She cursed herself, but more so Konoha too. Why were these type of laws implemented in the first place? In the back of her mind, she knew it was to alleviate power evenly, because Konoha wasn't a dictatorship. Only in times of war or crisis did it have military sovereign. The only constant was shinobi authority over civilians. But this was s shinobi case so that didn't matter. She felt that she should've been able to do more as Hokage, but the damn council liked to play dirty.

Tsunade's eyes widened. She stood up from her desk quickly, knocking it over and running to a filing cabinet. She ripped open one of the drawers and briskly shuffled through the hundreds of documents. Shizune rose an eyebrow and crossed the room to her friend.

"Hey, what's the matter Hokage-sama?" She asked bewildered at Tsunade's sudden outburst. Tsunade didn't respond and kept searching until she pulled out two files. Her eyes lit up and shoved one of the files into Shizune's hands.

"Read." She said simply before sitting on her overturned desk and reading her own file. Shizune cocked her head and did as she was instructed. Several minutes of reading and Shizune's eyes widened, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.

"La…Lady Tsunade!"

"How the fuck did I overlook this the first time?" Tsunade cursed and grit her teeth.

"You weren't interested in reading the Third's final documents remember? You said the old man probably only wanted to preach about hard work and dedication as the leader of the village or, and I quote, some bullshit like that." Shizune narrowed her eyes at Tsunade, who had the grace to blush.

"Well…it was bullshit like that at first…so I just skimmed it…" She chuckled nervously. Karma was a bitch.

"Well?" Shizune asked, handing her the files. Tsunade put her hand under her chin, thinking intently.

"I have an idea, but you're not gonna like it…well, as you are lately, maybe you will." Tsunade turned towards one of the corners of the room. "Lynx, go retrieve Ino Yamanaka, Hinata Hyuga, TenTen Hiroshi, and Hana Inuzuka immediately. Tell them that it is urgent, and take them by force if you must. Just be back here in no less than ten minutes."

A female anbu stepped from the shadows and bowed to the Hokage, issuing a quick 'Hai, ma'am!' before disappearing from the office.

"So what's this plan, Hokage-sama?" Shizune asked honestly curious.

"We're gonna play dirty too, Shizune." Tsunade's dark smirk sent a shiver up the young medic's spine.

* * *

Flashes of the previous night flooded her head.

_"Naruto, I...I would never hurt you anymore! I would never take advantage of you, I just want you to be happy again!"_

The pulses of her heart brought forth deep emotions.

_"I understand...but that doesn't make it any easier. Knowing that I screwed up my chances with Sakura, and now seeing just how confused I was to have kept running after her in the first place. I spent...no, I wasted the last few years of my life trying to make her happy and this is what I get in the end..."_

The revelation of it all brought her deep despair.

_"I'll stand by him, until my last breath!"_

A tear hit the ground, leaving nothing but a small circle. Ino stared at the scene unable to move. Her emotions held her paralyzed. The winds chill was sharper than ever before and let her know that she wasn't imagining the sight. More tears joined the others on her face. She was crying from heartache, and also anger. Not at Naruto. She was logical enough to know that Naruto wouldn't be in that position if he had his memories back.

No.

She was mad at Sakura. The person she used to call her best friend. The person she had grew up with and had shared good and bad times with. The person she had put so much faith in to be the better person between them. Oh how ironic that they switched roles.

She was mad at Sakura for once again showing how much Naruto really meant to her. She was taking advantage of him again, but this time would be the last time. Putting both her emotions and logical thinking _into_ high gear, Ino reached for her kunai pouch.

"Yamanaka-san, forgive me for such haste, but the Hokage has required your presence immediately." Ino's line of sight was suddenly obscured by an Anbu, female.

"What? No, I'm busy!" She called, only loud enough for the Anbu in front of her to hear.

"I understand." The Anbu whispered as she gazed over her shoulder towards the sight behind them. "I was stationed in the office when you brought him to the Hokage. I understand completely what this is about. I also know that what you're about to do would land you time in prison, or worse."

Ino growled, fist clenched tightly. "Just who are you anyway?"

"Someone who didn't understand what strength was until I met that brat over there. Your typical Anbu, and Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto admirer." The Anbu giggled uncharacteristically. "I may even be a fangirl."

Ino felt a quick rush of pride, a small sliver of happiness, and maybe just a hint of jealousy. This random Anbu was talking about Naruto, _her _Naruto, like he was human. It wasn't a secret that it was rare to hear such things. If only Naruto would have looked past Sakura, past the pain that she caused, he would see that there were more people that cared about him. He didn't need to hang onto her anymore.

_Just like you didn't need to hang onto Sasuke…_

"The Hokage has made this urgent. I am to take you by force if I must." The Anbu snapped Ino from her musings.

'_By force? What the hell is going on Lady Tsunade?'_Ino was smart enough to know not to fight an Anbu, not that she would want to at this point. Even if she thought she could win, fighting the Anbu would also earn her time in prison. Reluctantly, she decided to go. Looking back once more, she caught sight of Naruto and Sakura pulling away from each other. One more tear rolled down her cheek, and before the Anbu shunshined them away, Naruto looked her right in the eyes.

Naruto would have thought that he would be in heaven. To finally have the girl that he had always wanted on top of him, _kissing him_. He thought that fireworks would go off overhead and that his stomach would do backflips. But for some reason, it felt like alarms were going off in his head. Something wasn't right. Sakura was putting forth all her emotions into that kiss, but it just wasn't what he had expected. It was like his body was physically rejecting the act. A faint thought in his mind made him think that he didn't want it.

_"Explain to me everything that possessed you to come crying to me. To beg me to bring Sasuke back."_

Naruto's eyes widened. It wasn't a memory, or at least one that fit with the timeline. It was just an echo of words in his head. His memories began to speed up, now lingering on a moment that made him crumble.

"_Please Naruto…please, this is a promise of a life time." Sakura cried, hugging herself. They stood in front of the Konoha gates. "Please…bring Sasuke-kun back to me! That's all I ask of you!"_

Naruto stopped kissing Sakura, the memory fresh as if it were happening at the moment. Afraid of what to say, he looked away from her. However, a pain entered his heart for a reason he wouldn't be able to understand until more of his memories had returned.

'_Ino?'_ Naruto saw the girl, watching them. She was crying just before she vanished with an Anbu. _'What…what was that?'_

"Are you okay Naruto-kun?" Sakura's voice broke him out of his thoughts instantly. He was plunged back into the memory of them at the gates.

"You…cried for him." Naruto whispered. Sakura's heart skipped a beat as she realized what he was saying.

'_He remembers up until then already? No, at this rate…I don't want to lose him again!'_

"Naruto-kun...that's the past." Was all she could think to say. Naruto didn't respond, seeming to be lost in another memory. Sakura could only hold her breath at what he was remembering. Suddenly, he began to shift from under her. "N-Naru-"

"Sakura, get up." He spoke coldly.

"Wh-what?"

"Please, get up." He softly pushed her. She did as she was told and moved away.

"Naruto-kun what's wrong?"

Naruto held his chest. It was right over the area where Sasuke had plunged his chidori.

"He…tried to kill me. All I was doing was trying to bring him back. I…failed at that. I lost jiji and even Sasuke. You said…he's in the village right now?" Naruto glanced at Sakura only to see her standing with her back turned. Seeing her back, the image of her and Sasuke walking away from him flashed in his mind. He finally started to think. "After all that…you still loved him…"

"Yes…I still loved him…I may even still do." Sakura turned around, facing Naruto. "But not as much as I love you…"

"When did you fall in love with me?" Naruto asked coldly. For some reason, he already knew the answer. His memories were starting to get jumbled up. From the point after Sasuke left, everything seemed to blur. He saw Gaara's lifeless body taken by the Akatsuki, and then saw a man with orange hair standing in a crater that used to be Konoha. Then they rushed backwards again, showing him facing Orochimaru on the Tenshi Bridge using four tails of the Kyuubi's chakra. It was like his mind was syphoning everything, trying to get to one point.

Sakura didn't respond. Her eyes were watering again, and she only looked up as she saw Naruto walking away. This time, having had her few moments of happiness, feeling what it was truly like to be held by the person who actually loved her, Sakura felt no regret. She didn't walk after him, she didn't call his name. Her fantasy was finally over. She would go on living alone, and she would scold herself, for years to come. She would hate herself, cry for herself, to herself, for thinking that she made a mistake. However, after the sun has once again shined onto Konoha, onto Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, she would look back and know that she made the right decision. A decision that would lead him to his own happiness, a happiness that she could never be apart of. A happiness that she ruined by throwing her emotions at Sasuke. The smartest decision she's ever made.

She let him go.

Naruto walked away from the pink haired kunoichi feeling destroyed. He was walking away from what he had always thought he wanted, but the recent thoughts running through his mind were starting to change that. Even if it was just a feeling, just an itch, he felt he wasn't supposed to be with her. Not now, or ever.

Then, he thought about who he was supposed to be with. His memories seemed more focused on a single person. Someone whom he had never really thought about in his own right.

'Where are you…Ino?'

Going back into his recent memories, he remembered that she was the first one there when he lost his memories. As well, she was the only one to take him to the Hokage to try to fix him. She had come to the Hokage mountain to check up on him, and she had even been there several minutes ago. Even without his memories, he was sure there was something going on between him and Ino. And something even worse going on between him and Sakura. He stumbled as he walked forward, more memories finally shifting into the right time slots.

"Jiraiya-sensei…" Tears formed in his eyes as he dropped to his knees. "I…I couldn't protect anyone. I couldn't do anything right…" Naruto grit his teeth and stood to his feet.

Instead of walking, he stood in place, trying his hardest to remember everything, to get back the thoughts that seemed more important than he had initially realized. Something big was happening that involved him, and he needed to know what. Shifting through is mind swiftly, he went over the last few hours of him having amnesia. His mind seemed to reach a block as he couldn't remember past seeing Ino in his apartment.

"Dammit…come on, I just need to remember before then." He willed himself, trying hard to break past that point.

Suddenly, his eyes shot open. Ino had used her family jutsu on him…she was crying. It still wasn't a memory, more along the lines of a random thought. He cringed and held his head in pain. He needed to remember. He needed to remember everything. But his mind was fading again. More memories flooded his head, and Naruto once again passed out.

* * *

"Hokage-sama, what's the meaning of this?" Ino screeched as she walked into the office. Her voice immediately calmed as she saw the three other kunoichi in the room with her. "Wh…what's going on?" She asked more quietly.

"Ino, I suppose you're the only one who doesn't know this, so I guess I can explain one more time." The Hokage delivered the message of the council, frowning darkly as the words left her lips like poison. To say Ino was shocked was a huge understatement. The Yamanaka heiress wasn't even confused. She was downright speechless. Her mouth hung open and her eyes were wide. It was a comical sight, however, the situation was dire and no one offered even a snicker.

_'I knew that damn Uchiha was a bastard but this…' _Ino thought as rage finally began to sink into her features.

"Before you explode, I have a solution to this already." Tsunade said with a smirk, gaining the attention of all the present kunoichi. "Anbu, leave the room. Except for you lynx. I need at least one outside witness." The three Anbu, not including lynx, vanished from the room.

"What are we going to do Hokage-sama? I don't want anything to do with that traitor." TenTen spat with malice. The three other teens nodded in agreement.

"Sorry to say, but you three will have to be loyal to the Uchiha." Tsunade said, hiding her smirk this time. The kunoichi instantly began shouting their protest, stopping as the Hokage held her hand up. "Don't get me wrong. I have no intention of letting the Uchiha get away with anything like this. My plan consist of you four being as loyal as possible. Understand?"

The bewildered looks on the girls faces told her they still didn't understand. Holding the bridge of her nose, the Hokage sighed.

"Look, you're going to fake loyalty to the Uchiha. My plan is a huge gamble because I'm setting it up so that no extensive damage will be done to anyone except the Uchiha."

Shizune handed the girls papers, telling them to read it over quickly. Instantly, smirks appeared on all of their faces.

"This may well be the greatest plan in shinobi history. Shikamaru would even be jealous!" Ino exclaimed.

"Actually…he's the one who helped write it." Shizune sweat dropped and all the girls in the room laughed.

"Hokage-sama, are you sure about this though? Just from the first page, I can see that this is the biggest risk we can take short of starting a war with another country." Hana asked worriedly.

"Sorry to say, it's the only chance we've got. The parts that seem overly unnecessary may actually be parts that save our asses." She replied seriously.

"We're putting all of our faith into him. Again." TenTen said sadly. Ino frowned.

"It's also a big risk. If Naruto doesn't regain his memories in time, this will never work. He's going to be in an emotional state as is." She added.

"Like I said, it's the only chance we've got. Tomorrow, be at the Uchiha compound, but don't let that sick bastard touch any of you. Start the plan immediately. You're all dismissed to get prepared."

The kunoichi began to file out of the room. Once outside, Hinata stopped Ino.

"Ino, what happened to Naruto-kun? Why does he have amnesia?" Hinata asked silently. Ino frowned again. She had forgotten all about the young heiress. Her mind had been focusing on Naruto, and she was sure that it was how Hinata used to feel. She couldn't deny the building feelings for the blonde she held, and now knew that it would cause friction between her and Hinata.

"Honestly, in a nutshell it's all Sakura and Sasuke's fault." Ino replied. "Hinata, he's hurting, badly. He needs people there for him and…" She trailed off, looking away from her friend. Hinata's eyes widened slightly.

"You…"

Ino nodded. "Please forgive me Hinata! I never meant for it to go like this…"

Hinata looked down. She wanted to be mad, or sad, or anything. But she wasn't. She was the opposite of those. She was happy. Happy that someone else finally saw what she did in the blonde.

"Ino…it's so easy to fall in love with him." She said with a smile. "Even knowing that, I won't give up on him. And I hope you don't either. You're right, he needs people there for him. So if it's me, you, or both of us, it doesn't matter as long as someone is there for him."

Ino looked at her friend in surprise. Hinata had never spoken like that, and it only furthered her realization that Naruto meant more to the village than even he knew. Wiping a stray tear from her eye, Ino took Hinata's hand.

"Thank you Hinata." As the two began to walk away from the Hokage building, a feeling of dread entered their stomachs. Tomorrow was going to bring about a huge change in the village. It was up to a single person to show if it would be a good change, or a bad one.


	7. Beyond The Horizon

_**She still remembered the days when he used to smile. The days when he used to laugh, and joke, and be annoying, and loud, and obnoxious, and goofy, and…himself. She remembered when he used to be happy…**_

**Chapter 7: Beyond The Horizon**

Cold. That's all he could feel. A bitter cold that clung to him like a wet sheet. He felt as if he were drowning. Going deeper into the darkness that surrounded him. As he fell deeper, even the cold seemed to fade away. There was nothing. All was gone. His spirit was shattered, his mind was wrecked. The bitter after taste of despair sat upon his lips, a poison that ate away at his tongue.

The darkest parts of hell couldn't conceal the sorrow in the teen's heart, nor could a light pierce the shadows that surrounded him. He was alone, now and forever, cursed by the one he loved.

Or used to.

No light.

No darkness.

Nothing.

No pain.

No pleasure.

Empty.

The past clouded the judgment of those that looked to the future. Only those who could hold on to their present, accept their past, and embrace their future could move on.

He couldn't accept his past.

It was loathsome, degrading. Nothing about it appealed to him. Nothing he wanted to keep. But it was everything he couldn't run from. All the sins that he'd committed, all the pain he'd endured. They would forever haunt him, regardless of how he closed his eyes. Regardless of how he tried to shut it all out. There would be no escape, not until he turned and faced it all.

His memories had returned, full force.

Shifting ever so slightly, he felt himself on a bed. In his seventeen years of life, he had become well acquainted with the lumpy, spring loaded mattress. So the first thing that came to mind while waking up was how he got back to his closed off box of a home. He leaned up, holding his head as he felt like it was loaded with much more than it could contain.

"Finally up."

Naruto didn't flinch. He didn't jump or scream. He just sat there. He had already been aware of the person, knowing instinctively that it could only be her. The person who was the main focus of his memories. The star of his dreams and the savior of his nightmares.

"Ino…"

Ino stood silently in the doorway to his room. She looked down, hearing the dead tired voice escape the blonde's lips. It was as if all life had been drained right out of him. Even the chill of the air felt like the shinigami was hovering nearby.

She had walked Hinata back to her home, her father having summoned her right after the meeting with the Hokage. So she had been on her way home herself, lost in the pleasurable thought of the plan that was to be implemented against the Uchiha. But first, she had wanted to go back to where Naruto and Sakura had been, hopefully to finish what she had started. Instead, she found Naruto a bit ways off, unconscious on the ground.

The first emotion to cross her features of course was shock. Then almost instantly, pure unbridled rage. Logic failing, Ino immediately pegged Sakura for the blonde's current position. However, remembering that it wasn't safe for the teen to be laid out on the side of a road, she quickly scooped him up and headed towards the only place she could think of, aka, his apartment. It wasn't truly viable, but she knew that they couldn't go to the hospital. Nobody would be able to figure out what was wrong with him. Going back to Tsunade wouldn't prove any better and taking the blonde back to her own home was asking for a night of interrogation should her father return anytime between dusk and dawn.

She used his keys in his pocket to open the door and once again found herself tending to the unconscious teen in his room. A sad smirk had found its way onto her face as she felt déjà vu. The only difference was that Naruto was actually alive this time. Taking his temperature and making sure he was comfortable, she found out that he had only passed out. He wasn't running a fever or anything. He was just tired. Throughout the whole ordeal, Ino kept checking up on the blonde anyway, stroking his hair from his face and hoping that she'd be able to catch his sleepy gaze when he first awoken.

She also fully evaluated everything up until then. Now, for the first time since she had started worrying about the blonde, she could honestly say that she wanted to be with him, more than as comrades or friends. She wanted to experience what Sakura had missed out on, what Hinata had always wanted, and what several other girls secretly swooned to. Of course, she would feel bad about taking Naruto first, seeing as Hinata had never done anything to anybody. Thinking about it, Ino felt like she was getting ahead of herself. Naruto knew about the feelings Hinata had for him. But he never returned them. He still went after Sakura.

But now, he may fall back towards the Hyuga heiress. Ino held her chest as she felt a pain in her heart. Again, for the first time in her life, Ino felt something that she thought that she was too good for. Complete and true jealousy.

"They're back." Naruto mumbled, looking out the window. Ino was snapped from her thoughts and looked at the blonde. She rose an eyebrow in confusion.

"What's back?"

"My memories. They're all back."

Naruto's voice was colder than the chilling air. It was low, even and held no emotions whatsoever. It was as if he were silently talking to himself, or no one at all. It raised goose bumps on Ino's skin, making her rub her arms in indifference. She walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge, leaning her head against his shoulder. He didn't move.

"It's funny you know?" He said, with no sarcasm. "How things really do tend to be so fucked up for those who try to be saints? Like how God tends to put all the faithful through harsh trials, making them suffer while saying there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Testing how true their faithfulness is, pushing them to the point where they may break. What's the point?"

Ino sat confused at the blonde's words but didn't show it. After several seconds of thought, she started understanding what he meant, but she still didn't see the relevance.

"All this time, I've been trying to protect everyone, even the ones who wanted me dead. I turned my back on a girl who really loved me for a girl that only loved me as second best."

Ino stiffened, knowing that he was referring to Hinata and Sakura.

"Naruto-kun…not everyone felt that way."

"Then there's my so called best friend…" Naruto continued as if he hadn't heard her. "The one I spent all these years trying to find. Trying to pull back from the darkness. Risking everything, body, soul, _existence._ Only to find a deranged piece of shit that only wanted to end my life and those of everyone I cared about. And what did I do? I still brought him back. I never gave up. How ironic that my tenaciousness be the downfall of me."

* * *

_It was silent. The world seemed to have stopped spinning, leaving only the wind blowing over the halted soil. Sasuke lay, unable to move but still conscious at his feet. Debris still fell, uplifted from Naruto's Rasenshuriken. The Uchiha groaned and howled out, trying to get his body to respond, so he could kill the person who only wanted to save him. _

"_Why? Why are you so much stronger?" Sasuke shouted, tears of blood running down his face as his eyes repeatedly shifted from normal to mangekyou. Naruto could only look down on the person whom he still called a friend. The same person that even now was still trying to kill him. Unable to move, body broken and damn near paralyzed, but still with enough blood lust for someone who only cared._

"_I'm stronger because I have something and someone I want to protect. Someone that I want to save. I told you, I'd take you back to the village, even if I had to break every bone in your body! You're my friend Sasuke! I won't let you destroy yourself!" _

_Sasuke grunted, rage still in his eyes. Naruto didn't see it, nor did he want to. So he trudged over to the downed Uchiha, holding his violently bleeding side. His vision was blurring even now, having a small bit of healing power left. It was only enough to get him back to the village and then in the hands of someone with a bit more medical experience. _

_He picked up Sasuke and slung his arm over his shoulder. All the while, Sasuke shouted threats and profane extremities. Naruto ignored, always the positive thinker, wanting Sasuke to become what he used to be. To go back to the past where they were just gening. Fighting Haku and Zabuza. Saving each other in the Forest of Death. Acting as brothers…_

'_Even if…he's stronger…' Sasuke thought. A sadistic smirk made its way onto his face. 'I'm going to win. If I can't beat you physically, dobe, I'll take everything else from you. I promise!'_

_Naruto smiled, not knowing what the Uchiha was thinking. He still held onto the past, clinging to it like a safety blanket. So it obvious that he was completely oblivious to the upcoming events. The events that would forever change him and the leaf village from that day forward._

"_Look…we're almost there…" Naruto called as the village gates came into view. After a while, the two had settled into silence. Sasuke, planning for tearing the blonde apart and Naruto trying to stay conscious as the wound on his side proved to be worse than he expected. He coughed up blood stumbling slightly._

"_You're gonna be dead before we even get back." Sasuke mumbled. Naruto thought that it was because he was worried about him, but couldn't see the small smirk on Sasuke's face. As they neared the gates, audible gasps were heard and then the groaning of the door opening. _

"_Has Anbu alerted the Hokage?" Naruto asked one of the guards. _

"_Yes, several minutes ago. They should be here shortly!"_

_Naruto nodded and then continued his trudge forward into his home. Konohagakure, The Village Hidden in Leaves, would finally be able to rest. Peace would ensue from that day forward. Akatsuki was gone. Orochimaru was gone. Danzo was gone. Madara Uchiha was burnt toast. The Kyubi no longer existed. Now to top it all off, Naruto had finally brought Sasuke home. Yes, peace was sure to follow…they all naively hoped. _

_Inside and only several meters away from the gate, Naruto paused. He couldn't go in further on his own without falling out. _

"_We'll have to wait here." Naruto mumbled, finding it harder to talk by the second. Sasuke was laughing in his head, hoping to be the one to watch the blonde drop dead in the middle of the road. _

"_Come on, you can make it to the hospital!" Sasuke called, hiding his enthusiasm with his trademark scowl._

"_I wish…" Naruto responded, still not realizing the undertone the Uchiha was hiding. "It won't take long…I can feel Sakura-chan coming closer anyway."_

_A light bulb went up over Sasuke's head instantly. He almost through his head back and laughed maniacally but he was still in pain as well. Several yards ahead, Naruto saw Sakura stop, hands to her chest and tears in her eyes. Then a smile slowly formed as she beamed in excitement. She dashed towards them, eyes never leaving Sasuke. As soon as she reached them, she practically dove onto them, more so Sasuke._

"_Sasuke-kun! Sasuke-kun, you're actually back! Kami-sama, you're really home!"_

_Sasuke was remembering the time where he had almost killed Sakura, for the third time. He found it amazing that the pink haired girl would still have feelings for him after three times, but he shrugged it off. Actually, now was perfect. It was because of Naruto that Sakura wasn't dead by his hands, and now that was all going to come back around to haunt him._

_Several yards away, some of Naruto's friends watched the scene silently, deciding not to make themselves present since the old team 7 was finally being reunited. _

"_S…Sakura, pain…" Sasuke groaned, making the pink haired teen blush and lean up. She quickly pulled Sasuke to his feet with her monstrous strength, failing to notice the blood on all three from Naruto's wound. Naruto had hit the ground hard when the pink haired girl had jumped at them. His strength was just about gone. He stood up slowly, not wanting to further injure himself and was about to make himself visible to the girl. However, Sasuke beat him to it._

"_Sakura, I need to get to the hospital." Sasuke said with a fake moan. Sakura nodded eagerly, and pulled out a small pouch of soldier pills. In her haste, she accidently dropped several but popped one in Sasuke's mouth anyway. _

"_Sasuke-kun, please don't leave me alone again!" She whispered as she stepped closer to him. Naruto froze on spot. Sasuke caught the movement out of the corner of his eyes._

"_Why would I ever do that? Sakura…I want to be with you. That's the only reason I'm back now. I don't care about anyone else. Anyone." He shot a quick glance at Naruto, which went unnoticed by Sakura alone. Sakura hugged Sasuke, crying into his chest. Her words became muffled and unreadable._

"_Sas…Sasuke…" Naruto was saying but fell to his knees. Sasuke smirked at Naruto before making Sakura look up at him. He whispered something to her and she nodded, never even bother to look Naruto's way. He was invisible to her. Her world was now taking up by the visage of Sasuke, and Sasuke alone. _

"_Yes! Yes, I'll marry you Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shouted to the world. That was the last thing she said before shunshining them both to the hospital. Naruto was speechless, looking at the empty air in front of him. So quick, but so much. Everything had gone wrong just like that. In the blink of an eye. He was supposed to be the one to get Sakura. He was the one that was supposed to have been the girl's hero. _

_Before he lost consciousness, he grabbed two of the soldier pills that Sakura had dropped and disdainfully ate them. Feeling some of his strength returning, he shunshined to the only place where he could think…_

_Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji watched with wide eyes and fallen jaws. _

"_Wha…what the hell was that?" Chouji stuttered out._

"_It's like forehead didn't even see him! Like he was invisible!" Ino breathed out. Shikamaru frowned darkly._

"_No. It wasn't just Naruto. Sasuke is the only person she saw, everything else was damned." Shikamaru spat with venom, actually making Ino flinch. "Did you see the look on Sasuke's face?"_

"_Yeah!" Chouji bellowed a bit loudly. "It was like he was totally doing it on purpose, just to hurt Naruto!"_

"_No way, Sasuke wouldn't do that…would he?" Ino asked, not sure of herself. Shikamaru shot Ino a dark look that she wouldn't forget anytime soon._

"_You should know the answer to that by now. Do you honestly still have feelings for that prick?" _

_Ino opened her mouth to reply, to maybe even take up for Sasuke, but she found herself at a loss for words. There was no way in hell she could deny that Sasuke had done that on purpose. It was obvious. _

"_We need to find Naruto." Shikamaru said beginning to walk away._

"_Why?" Ino called._

"_Didn't you see all that blood. Even with those soldier pills, Naruto's going to be in trouble if he doesn't get to the hospital."_

"_How do you know he didn't go there already?" Ino asked again._

"_Because Naruto would never go to the hospital on his own accord, and because of what just happened. Think, Ino. You're acting like the Uchiha obsessed fangirl you used to be." Shikamaru caught Ino off guard again, speaking coldly towards her. She had never wanted to be on the Nara's bad side when he was serious. But once again, she couldn't deny that he was right. She had all intentions of coming to propose to Sasuke, wanting to forget how he had betrayed the village. How he had almost killed her friends on several occasions. She knew almost nothing about the boy yet she still claimed to love him, even after three years. Shikamaru was right, it was obsession. But not as bad as Sakura's…_

_She stopped that line of thinking before it got too far. Right now was the time to find the knucklehead. She walked towards the area where team 7 had just had its make shift reunion. Her gaze caught the few spots of blood that dotted the ground and she turned away sadly. She closed her eyes, using a clan technique to sense if Naruto had gone far or not. Surprisingly, she could feel the path of his shunshin, which shouldn't have been possible. Most ninja couldn't produce a strong enough chakra distortion to leave behind residue, and that's because the shunshin wasn't meant for traveling long distances. It was usually used to get outside of a building or several feet away from a potential enemy. The longest recorded shunshin was only a one hundred meter radius. So as she prepared to see if she could physically follow Naruto through his shunshin, she almost passed out as she felt his chakra signature all the way on the Hokage Monument._

_It took her several minutes and almost a dozen shunshin's the reach the Hokage Monument. Taking several minutes to catch her breath, she looked over at the blonde, sitting on the Fourth's head and looking out over the village that he had saved on many different occasions. Even as the wind blew, his hair bellowing in the wind, he seemed rock still. Ino slowly walked over to him, her first train of thought being to scold the boy back to his senses and get him to the hospital. However, as she approached, she saw his wound already healing rapidly and tears streaming down his face. _

"_Naruto…" She whispered._

"_Why are you here?" He called, voice deep and hoarse at the same time._

"_I…Why are you crying?" She asked, not wanting to tell him that they had seen what had happened._

"_It's nothing…go away." He called and then silence enveloped them. Even the wind died down. Instead of taking the route that she would've several hours ago, Ino walked towards the blonde and sat down next to him._

"_Holding it in isn't going to make it any better." She said and put an arm around his shoulder. He tensed but relaxed several seconds later. _

"_Is it so wrong…to want just one thing in my life?"_

_Ino's eyes widened. "What…what you mean?"_

"_When we were younger…what did I ever do to anybody? What did I do to deserve to be hated by the entire village. To be beaten and ridiculed, segregated. And then to have my education sabotaged in the academy. I was placed on a team where my sensei thought I was useless, I was in love with a girl who would beat me for giving her a compliment and my so called best friend would try to kill me. All I want...wanted was a little happiness in my life. But I stopped that too when I decided not to give Hinata the chance she deserved…when she risked her life for me, almost died for me…yet I still went to Sakura."_

_Ino frowned at hearing what had happened when Pein attacked the village._

"_I took on the world, survived the damn war to make everyone happy, to make sure you were all safe. And in the end…I'm left with nothing…"_

_Ino's lips were sealed. Her heart ached, and she felt as if the burden that Naruto carried over those years were finally dumped onto her. Her own eyes watered at the thought that the usually loud shinobi was speaking as if he were to be put to death. There was nothing left for him and all she was doing was sitting here speechless. She couldn't do more for him and seeing him like that now, she felt pure hatred toward Sakura and Sasuke. The next thing she knew, Naruto was crying into her shoulder, letting out all the anguish, pain, heartache, and regret that had accumulated over the years. He was pouring out his soul…and in the end there would be nothing left…

* * *

_

As Naruto finished speaking, everything seemed to vanish. Ino looked him in the eyes and felt her spirit crumble. He was a shell. A fragile, brittle outward appearance of what used to be Uzumaki Naruto. There was no sadness, anger, or happiness. Just the glare that made her heart ache, and the silence that enveloped the world, far beyond the horizon. He faced away from her, gazing back outside.

"Was I asking too much…to have anything at all…Am I destined to know true pain…just like Nagato had wanted…" The ensuing silence that followed chilled Ino to her core.

Naruto paused, his gaze finally leaving the outside world. He straightened his back, and then swiftly turned, letting Ino's head fall to his bed. He rolled her to her back, leaning over her and pinning her down by her wrist. Ino's eyes widened as she gazed up into the stoic face of the Uzumaki.

"N-Naruto-kun, what are you doing?" She gasped out, both fear and confusion rushing through her head.

"If I were Sasuke…would you ask what I was doing?"

Ino's eyes widened. Her throat began to dry as her eyes clouded.

"You said it yourself Ino. If you would have gotten to Sasuke before Sakura, you would have let him do whatever he felt like to you."

"No…" Ino whispered out, tears slowly rolling down her cheeks.

Naruto leaned down, his face only inches from the Yamanaka's. He felt her tremble, breath catching in her chest.

"Are you really over him Ino?" He whispered into her ear. "Am I really what you want? Or am I second best, just like with Sakura?"

Naruto sucked on her neck, drawing a pleasurable gasp. Ino's body jerked from the unexpected contact and her breathing quickened.

"Na…ruto…" She gasped out, shutting her eyes tight. Suddenly she pushed him away, standing swiftly and backing away towards the door. "No…what's gotten into you? You're not the Naruto-kun I know…you're acting like…"

"Like Sasuke?" Naruto finished for her, a humorless chuckle following.

"Why? Why would you do something like that?"

Naruto frowned, and stood up. Ino froze again, wanting to back away more as he slowly walked towards her. Finally, as he did make it right in front of her, she found that she was pinned again, against a wall.

"Because it's you Ino. You're starting to act like the saints I was talking about. Bad things happen to good people."

Ino didn't know how to respond. She didn't truly know what he meant.

"Ino…if Sakura would have taken me instead of Sasuke that day, we wouldn't be here now. I would be with her, happily taking whatever she dished out at me. And when, or if, I finally saw the shit I was going through, I would have somehow ended up with Hinata. But none of that happened, and here I find myself with you in my room again, trying your hardest to keep the little piece of light there is left in me."

Naruto pulled Ino into a hug, but her arms hung uselessly to the side as she comprehended what he was saying.

"You're acting like I did, not too long ago. When I still tried to hold on to the piece of light in Sasuke that wasn't there. I wasted my life for him and her. Now, I'm in the position of Sasuke, looking at you across a gorge that will never be filled. The longer you try to catch me, the further away I'll get."

Ino's arms wrapped around Naruto, catching him off guard.

"Dammit, shut the hell up, baka!" She was crying. "You're so stupid!"

"Ino…"

"How can you get further away…if I never plan to let you go?"

Naruto's eyes widened. Everything that he had just said seemed to freeze in the air around them.

"You're right. Me and you would have never been in this position had things gone down the way we wanted them to at first. But like I said before, what ifs are just that. We can't reverse time so all we can do is move forward. Even if you weren't my first choice and I wasn't yours, we're here now! What I feel for you, Naruto-kun…I'm not comparing it to Sasuke. I'm not looking at anyone else. I just want you, and you alone! Our lives may have fallen to ruins, and trying too hard to be a saint was just asking for that. It's our faults for not knowing when to give up. Sometimes it's for the best. You and I are totally different people now than we were several weeks ago. I'm trying to grow up, and take the world seriously and you're finally trying to think of yourself above others."

Ino chuckled tiredly, feeling just as drained as Naruto. She leaned unto him, sighing deeply.

"I guess all I'm saying is…it doesn't matter how we got here, or why. It only matters what we do now…What I feel for you is real Naruto-kun, and not based on what I could've had with the Uchiha." Ino smirked. "Actually, if I were to compare it, this would be the grand luxury prize of the century."

Naruto closed his eyes, letting out a long sigh. He pulled Ino even closer.

"Since when could you give pep talks like that?" He asked silently.

"Since you stopped." She whispered back.

They stood in silence for several moments, both dead tired and finally coming to terms with a semi-peace. Naruto felt as if Ino had accomplished what he couldn't. She had saved someone from plunging into darkness. It brought a sense of regret to him, but he quickly shook it away. He knew that it was finally time for him to stop acting like a saint, a savior. He was human, just like the rest of the world.

"Okay, I got one important question." Naruto said as he released Ino. Ino cocked an eyebrow.

"What?"

"Want a drink?"


	8. Love Lost In The Night

**And Here we are my lovers! Back to make sweet, sweet music with you after having a three month affair with a dazzling, dangerous beauty known as life. Come on, you know I'll never lose my love for you. Only you all can make me smile with the thoughtful reviews and those tantalizing words of inspiration!**

**(I need to smile after all the crap that's been going down. So I hope no one is too pissed at me right now.) **

**So after a painfully long wait, the road to NaruIno continues in this winding down fic. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the calm before the storm. **

**Chapter 8: Love lost in the night**

The night air sent chills down his spine. The events of recent, so recent, were still a mystery to him. All he could do was wonder, and wondering was nowhere near as good as knowing for him. He was a Nara dammit, he was supposed to be the one coming up with answers. So why couldn't he do more? Even now, he wondered if his plan for Tsunade and the girls would be enough. He wondered would they understand it, or even more, would they understand the underlying implications. He wanted more knowledge, which wasn't something new to a Nara. Knowledge, rational or not, was something they sought. It almost bordered the Uchiha's lust for power.

But alongside that lust for knowledge was the value for friendship that he and his clan had gained since being connected deeply to the Yamanaka and Akimichi clans. Add that to the bonds he had formed with the other genin of his graduating class, and you had one damn worried shadow manipulator. Naruto was, and would always be his best friend in the entire universe. The reason he could say this is because Ino and Chouji were not his friends. They were his family and he wouldn't let anyone tell him that they were less.

Which finally brought him upon the topic of his worry. Naruto, whom he still thought had amnesia, was supposedly being taken care of by his sister. His sister, whom several weeks ago was still holding slight Uchiha fangirl like tendencies. Apparently, though he didn't mind, she had taken a DEEP liking to the male blonde. What worried him was the fact that how could two people dealing with problems in their own separate lives pull together to fix it, instead of making it worse.

A sigh to his left let him know that a certain sand kunoichi was indeed pondering along the same lines as himself. He wanted to pull Temari closer to him as they trudged through the misty village. It was a thought that he instantly dismissed, seeing that even the Nara clan had a problem when it came to showing their emotions to woman. The rain finally, after all these days, seemed to be letting up on the downtrodden village. It was a moments reprieve that they would cherish. As they neared a small park, being just a path that wound through trees and around a lake, several branching streams covered by the beautiful half-moon bridge, Temari faced Shikamaru.

Her deep, midnight blue eyes made Shikamaru want to crumble in on himself. His thirst for knowledge instantly had him wondering just how long could Temari's eyes be stared into before you lose your sanity in how mysteriously and beautifully they shined in the moonlight. The first time he had met her, they seemed dark and dull, but that was only because of the worry that she had held for Gaara. But now that things had turned out for the better, for the sand trio at least, her eyes had gained a shine that could only be described as angelic.

"Do...you want to walk through the park?" She asked a bit sheepishly. It was weird for them both, knowing that a statement such as that would never usually leave the blonde's lips, even when they were alone together. Or at least in the sense that she blushed and couldn't make eye contact when she asked. "You know, so you don't have to go back home too soon." She added, hoping to save face. Even with them both knowing that they wanted to be more than just friends/comrades/escort-escortee, because they were who they were, they just couldn't come out and say it.

To Shikamaru, his genius nature finally decided to take a stand still. The side that had been awakened by one Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze reared its head. The side that was impulsive and had confidence in any and all things it did.

Tonight, he would confess.

"Yeah. I need to clear my head a bit more anyway." He replied as if he hadn't noticed her fidgety movements. The small glance downwards showed that she was a bit upset. He knew that somewhere deep inside the kunoichi, she had wanted him to realize how much she really liked him too.

The two began to walk slowly through the small park, the moonlight bathing the lake in a magnificent, ethereal glow. Its reflection was more like a pure light than a refraction. Even while they walked in silence, just an inch apart due to the narrowness of the path, Shikamaru kept stealing glances at the shorter blonde next to him. His heart beat with every step they took. It would have burst from his chest if he realized that when he looked away, she looked at him.

Finally coming to an opening, which split into two paths leading around the lake, The two stood still. Temari looked left while Shikamaru looked right. They both took a step in their respective direction and paused, looking back at the other.

"I want to go this way." They said simultaneously.

"This way!" They called together again. Temari folded her arms and cocked her hip. Shikamaru put a hand in his pocket and held his head.

"Really, must we do this now? Its late, Temari."

"So? You shouldn't have agreed to walk through the park if that's the case." The look Shikamaru gave her made her want to jump in the lake. His eyes narrowed and became calculating. She knew those eyes to be the ones he adorned when being scolded by his mother. She didn't apologize, though she didn't speak afterward. The two stood in awkward silence, the just as silent wind blowing small buds of cherry blossoms across the ground. They wouldn't bloom just yet, but maybe after all the days of rain...

"Temari..." Shikamaru started with a sigh. "They lead to the same place. I'll go this way, and you go that way."

For a moment, she began to contemplate what the hell the Nara was thinking. But seeing his gaze drift up towards the moon, seeing how the pale light cast a glow on the lover of darkness, she knew that this wasn't a moment to think about. This was a moment to be decisive. Without a word, she turned on her heel and began to walk around the lake. Shikamaru himself turned away and began to walk around in the opposite direction.

From this point, the thoughts of both teenage shinobi would be forever sealed within the night, under the full moon, and bathed deep within the lake itself. Alone, in an empty husk of paradise, performing what truly looked to be the wedding of the wolves, both of their minds swept down to their most deepest secrets and desires. With each step they took, wind blew stronger, the water of the lake rippled, reflecting the unspoken thoughts that they were afraid, or incapable of speaking into reality. The ripples themselves traveled along the waters surface, to convey silent and distant messages between them, light sprays of mist along the shore giving birth to tears that they could not shed.

Leaves peeled away from the trees and blew over and around Shikamaru. On the other side, sand tingled Temari's skin as it spun in small whirlwinds from the small beach next to her. Both blew out to the center of the lake where they mixed and spun about in a marvelous dance of nature.

Step by step, inch by inch, the two now stood only feet from each other. Shikamaru's eyes stern, and more assuring than any other time she had seen them. Her eyes...watery, damn near in tears.

The distance, however small, grew smaller as they traversed the several feet to stand right before each other. Everything that they wanted, but couldn't say to each other was known, somehow through the wonders that they called nature. So without opening his mouth to utter a single word, a simple lyric of oral understanding, Shikamaru knelt before her.

"Subaku no Temari, matriarch of Sunagakure, the village hidden in sand, daughter of the late Yondaime Kazekage, and sister of the current Godaime Kazekage, will you marry me?"

Even the wind stilled itself, the sand and leaves falling gently into the water and sinking to be forever forgotten at its depths. She let tears go, slowly.

What was going through her mind was typical of herself, a testament to the real her. The unnecessarily wordy proposal was both typical of Shikamaru, and yet not what she expected. Honestly, she wanted to laugh but the overwhelming emotions flooding both her brain and heart completely pushed the thought into the lake with the rest of the unspoken secrets.

"A thousand...a million times, yes!"

A fairy tale ending was what this felt like for the two as Shikamaru smiled brighter than he had ever before, picking up the older kunoichi and spinning her about as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Even the wind picked up again, making this real fiction feel even more story book. What the two held right at that moment, it was for them and them alone. Though they knew the problems of the outside worlds still existed, and would still exist when they walked to their separate resting places, they held this happiness with selfishness. They were happy, for the moment. And happiness was all too rare nowadays.

* * *

The chirping crickets and singing cecidas paved the tone of the night for the two. As they sat in a tree several yards from the Hyuga clan, they gazed up into the beautiful moon in content silence. However, an overlaying sheet of anxiety and tension was barely being pierced by the serenity of the night.

Tenten and Neji were obviously not as happy as they could've been. However, they decided the best course of actions at the moment were to revel in the short time that they would have to be happy. So as Neji leaned against the tree, and Tenten leaned onto him, being sustained by the Hyuga having both arms wrapped securely around her waist, they smiled into the darkness that shadowed their true feelings.

Tenten sighed and nestled her head right into the crook of Neji's neck, her hair draping over his arms and chest since she had taken the buns down. She closed her eyes, opting to just listen to the beat of his heart instead of dwell on the events that were supposed to transpire the morning to come.

"So...you never told me what happened to Sasuke." Tenten whispered into the air.

"After a small exchange of blows, an ANBU came by and stopped our 'spar'. Unfortunately I hadn't done as much damage as I wanted and the Uchiha fled into the safety of his room, no doubt to cuddle with his teddy bear he calls an ego."

Tenten chuckled at the summary. Yeah, that was pretty much like Neji. Never one to back down and never one to let the enemy get the last chide. Well, at least after Naruto was done with him. She still remembered that chunin exam, some three or four years ago now. The Neji back then and the Neji now were so different it was scary.

And the reason was Naruto.

A thirteen year old blonde kid, wearing 'FIRE AT WILL' orange, and shouting claims of being Hokage, all while being the dead last of that years graduating class, had successfully removed the unbreakable stick known as fate that was up Neji's ass. If you were to tell her that several years prior, she would have personally shoved every single last weapon on her personnel down your throat for such hope bringing lies. That is, if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes.

This had, of course, led to the Hyuga reevaluating a lot of his beliefs and attitude. This, in return, led to the Hyuga finally showing interest in the teen that he was currently holding. So, even if they weren't exactly dating, they owed their happiness to Naruto. (Seeing as neither knew exactly how to ask the other out, they just decided to show intimacy at times where it just felt right.)

"If things go wrong, tomorrow...I'll personally see to it that the Uchiha's severed head be enumerated into the Konoha museum." Neji spoke disdainfully. The topic seemed unavoidable now.

"And have your clan rain down holy fire on your ass? I don't think so. I do want to have children one day."

Since she felt her 'partner' stiffen at that statement, Tenten could only guess that she had successfully pushed the right button. Feeling him warm up was another indication and then finally feeling something pressed against her lower back let her know that Neji was indeed just as much a human, male, teenager as all of the rest of their friends. Though she was better at hiding her blush from the man behind her, she also went silent after thinking about the statement a bit more as well.

"You...would be willing to? In the future?" Neji asked, for the first time not knowing exactly how to word his sentence. For her part, TenTen could only nod her head with a quick 'mhm'.

After several seconds of letting the building heat between them fade, Neji pulled the girl even closer. Now they could say that they were officially dating. The only problem with this was getting approval from Hiashi. Of course Hyugas, especially of the side branch, had been permitted to date and even marry outside of the clan. However, every child was branded with the caged-bird seal, and that was something that Neji wished to avoid for both his children and Tenten's sake.

TenTen was blissfully unaware of the thoughts going through her lovers mind. Though as the silence weighed down on her, her thoughts finally drifted onto the matters of the next day. It was all or nothing. Depending on what happened tomorrow would determine if she and Neji even get to be together anymore. More things were on the line than even she knew. But one thing was for certain. She was going to use this last night to her advantage.

"Hey Neji, you want to go to a hotel?"

* * *

Every hit echoed off the walls. Every grunt played over in her ears. Every single last bit of sweat flashed in front of her eyes. Every smile she received brought tears to them.

"Keep it up."

He spoke in the midst of it, but she wasn't deterred. His voice was just reassurance that she wasn't dreaming. Hinata Hyuga was training almost as an equal with her father, Hiashi Hyuga.

Each thrust in her direction was blocked with effortless precision and countered with even more deadly accuracy. The sweat coating both Hyuga's brows was enough to show that this was no mere training session. Hiashi Hyuga was not holding back. His Byakugan catching every single grit, and smirk on his daughter, he knew she was not as well.

"Seikyoshin!" Hinata cried suddenly. Hiashi, having never heard the call before, was surprised to be pushed backwards by a wall of chakra. His balance was thrown off as he felt himself falling backwards. In the next instant he was flat on his back, Hinata over him with a hand full of his shirt gripped in one hand, and palm positioned right in front of his face, letting him know that if she so wanted, he would be a stain on the floor right now. The shock not only left Hiashi speechless for several seconds, but the smirking and heavily breathing Hinata was slowly starting to realize what she had done. For the first time ever, her father uttered words that she thought she would never hear.

"I concede."

Hinata stood up instantly, her face showing little emotion. Hiashi dusted himself off and looked at his daughter in bewilderment. He smiled softly, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"What's wrong? You've beaten me. I thought that you'd be ecstatic." The wry nod that he received let him know two things. One, the intense training to get back in the good graces with Hyuga had left the girls 'nice and shy' side, dangling on the edge of death. Two, that same 'nice and shy' side was being prodded to fall by the events that would transpire the next morning.

"Father..." The voice of Hanabi drew both older Hyuga's attention. The younger girl walked in and bowed, kneeling in front of both her sister and father. "Since onee-chan has beaten you, does that mean she is the legitimate heir again?"

Hiashi held a pensive look as he gazed down at his youngest daughter. Through the years of himself treating Hinata like a disease to the Hyuga had risen the same sort of feelings in the younger Hyuga. Right now, he didn't know how to explain to the young girl that things change, and so do people. He was spared, however, as Hinata knelt down in front of her sister.

"Hanabi, I will not be taking the throne to the Hyuga clan. Once I was disinherited from that position, the only way for an appeal would be for me to wish to become heiress again."

Hanabi looked at her sister confused. "But, why don't you want to be heiress anymore? Don't you want to get revenge on the people who disinherited you." Hiashi didn't miss the quick gaze in his direction from his youngest girl. Honestly, he felt it was well deserved. However, he also wondered what Hanabi was getting at. She had shown no type of sisterly caring for Hinata since they were children. Why now?

"No, Hanabi. If I led the Hyuga clan on revenge, I would be no better than how father used to be, and those despicable elders. I would want to lead the clan in love and unification. However, as I am now, you are right. I would only lead the clan in revenge and as much as I don't want to admit it, I won't ever be able to love the main branch as much as I used to."

That revelation brought so much dread to Hiashi. "Hinata..." Was all he could utter. Hinata turned to her father with a smile.

"Don't worry father. I'm not going to do anything rash. Besides, you've shown that the clan can change if they want to. As long as you treat Hanabi better than you did me, then she will be a fine leader."

That wasn't the problem. The fact that Hinata was pretty much saying 'You were an asshole but now I don't hate you' was hitting his heart repeatedly. He had already wallowed in regret knowing that he hadn't put in an effort to cater to the girls emotions when she was growing up. Even now, each and every day, he hates himself for tearing away some of the emotions that she did have. But the final part of Hinata's 'transformation' was an enigma to him.

The Hyuga ex-heiress was the only one whom could answer that.

"Father, I wish to sleep now. May I be dismissed?" Hinata asked. Her voice sounded as if nothing had ever changed, and as if nothing had ever been wrong. But that was a lie. Everyone knew that. Without waiting for an answer, she walked away from the chamber and back towards her room. Hanabi was about to go after her but Hiashi stopped her.

"Hanabi, what are you doing?"

"I...I miss the old nee-chan. She used to sing to me to put me to sleep. She was nice whenever I got hurt training. But...she hasn't done anything for me anymore. I thought that everything she was doing was showing weakness. Because you and the elders told me that kindness would lead to an early grave."

The fiery look in Hanabi's angry eyes pierced Hiashi. The twelve year old was usually quiet and placid, but now he could see that she was conflicting with what she was taught, and what she was truly learning.

"I...I haven't even had friends in the academy because I believed what you told me. But...now I see that I'm not happy. What's the point of being powerful if you're just going to be alone?" Hanabi called before leaving the chamber.

Hiashi was now regretting how he raised two daughters.

In Hinata's room, she shed her jacket and tossed it onto her bed. In the same motion she pulled a scrunchie out of her pocket and lifted the back of her hair. In a swift swirl of her wrist, her hair was pulled back into a spiky ponytail that still hung just about midway down her back. She hadn't told anyone, but she had always liked her hair being short. It made her distinguishable. But right now, she was only doing it so she could concentrate.

Sitting down on her window sill under the moonlight, she pulled out a notepad and pen. She wrote poetry in her spare time. But tonight, nothing was coming to mind. The reason was worry.

'Ino...'

Somewhere deep inside the girl, she knew she had lost her chance. Hell, maybe she had lost it far before this. She had confessed her love to Naruto many months ago. She had taken a stab right along side her heart for him. Yet he still ran for Sakura. So...why did she care so much? If anything, this should be the point in her life where she told herself that she was too good for him. But...

'You can't help who you love, right?' This was just her trying to convince herself. She knew she wasn't as 'in love' with Naruto as she used to be. This was the main reason why she had begun to steel herself, and let go of her emotions. She had gotten nothing. She wasn't the clan heir. She didn't get the person that she was so in love with. All she would get was a pitiful existence with the traitor...

'Fuck that.' One of her new favorite lines. Even if she couldn't have a happy ending that she so wanted, she damn sure wasn't going to let that fucking Uchiha get one. Finally falling on a thought, she put pen to paper and began to write.

_Through these walls my future lies._

_You love this life, but not through my eyes._

_Our time is up, but that can't be._

_Wallow in revenge, and follow me._

_We'll leave them with their regrets._

_And that's what they get._

_Shadow of a god that shows mercy._

_Light of a hell that they all will see._

Now come on. You can't blame the girl for being a bit dark can you?

* * *

"FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK!"

A crash was heard after the line of cusses. Dog howling was heard after the crash. At the Inuzuka compound, their were very few happy at this moment.

"You done yet?" Hana asked her little brother as, ironically, he was the one venting. Hana stood over his downed body, the remains of what used to be a lamp in her hand. Kiba lay on the floor, a pulsing knot on his head and blood pouring.

"How can you be so calm?" He yelled as he stood up as if nothing happened. Hana smirked at her little brother.

"What else should I be? No point getting mad. I'm not wuss enough to cry about it, and I'm damn sure not going to lie down and take it. So I'm just gonna do what Tsunade-sama told me." She shrugged and held back laughter at the lost look on her brothers face.

She loved him, dearly. She loved him even more when she found out that he had gone to the Uchiha to personally fight him upon learning of what was to become of her. Even if they argued a lot, she knew that her little brother would do anything for her. That made her feel proud, but even more, loved.

"I get that, but that doesn't make it any better." He argued and flopped down on his sisters bed. Akamaru was at his feet, seemingly uninterested in the conversation. Hana's own companions were about the compound doing god knows what.

"Hey, little bro. Don't worry so much, okay? You'll end up just like mom."

Kiba shivered at that. But then, his mind settled on another question. "What did mom say about it? She seemed like she didn't care when she told the clan about it."

"That's something that you need to learn, Kiba. Whenever mom acts like she doesn't care means that she is beyond pissed about something, or extremely happy. In this case, she's locked herself up in her room for a while, so I'd say she wants to kill the little brat just as much as you do." The older Inuzuka moved to the bed and sat next to her brother. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him close. "Besides, what's the deal? Are you that jealous of Sasuke? You can't have me to yourself all the time you know."

A second of Kiba's life was dedicated to him completely paling. Then the next second was dedicated to completely turning scarlet. He leaped up from the bed, somehow going over Akamaru with a yell.

"Wha-wha-what are you saying? Don't play around!" He screamed, flailing a pointing finger at the girl. Hana couldn't help herself and fell into a fit of laughter. Kiba was not amused and folded his arms, looking away.

"Oh come on, Kiba! Lighten up will ya? Everything is going to be alright, okay!"

The following sigh was all she needed to know that he was finally calming down. He looked his sister right in the eye and smirked. "I know. We can count on Naruto. But if anything does go wrong, I'll rip that damn Uchiha into bits and feed him to every pup in the compound."

Kiba whistled and Akamaru jumped up. The two began to leave the room. Right when he was outside the door, Hana grabbed him from behind.

"You know its not incest within the clan right?"

Kiba paled again. "M-MOOOOM!"

* * *

"Somewhere beyond happiness and sadness, I need to calculate, what creates my own madness!" A slurred male voice yelled into the night.

"And I'm addicted to this punishment! And you're the master! And I am waiting for disaster!" A female voice screeched out, almost as slurred as the previous voice.

Then together, they got louder. "I feel irrational! So confrontational! To tell the truth I am, getting away with murder!"

Suddenly the two voices burst into laughter, causing a wolf to howl off in the distance, ironically somewhere near the Inuzuka compound.

"You...you know, Naruto! You're not a bad singer!" Ino called, her arm draped around the blonde's shoulder as they sat on the roof of his apartment.

"You're not half bad yourself Ino-swan!"

Ino laughed for no apparent reason and laid back on the roof. After Naruto and Ino's little moment a few hours ago, they had gotten tanked. In reality, Ino only had two drinks while Naruto had two dozen. They were both rather buzzed, but the illusion of being wasted didn't seem to affect their randomness non the less.

Naruto laid back too, resting and looking up at the stars in the sky. He was more relaxed than he had been...well, pretty much ever. This was a beautiful and different feeling, especially from the past few weeks of angst. Ino chuckled again, this time raising an eyebrow on Naruto. Shaking his head to clear the slight fuzz, he tilted his head to face her.

"What's up?"

"I don't know...I guess I'm just happy. You're finally starting to return to normal..." Ino was happy. That much she could figure out. But why did she feel so down too?

"What else?" Naruto asked. Was there something else, or was he just reading too much into it?

Ino remained quiet, her gaze never leaving the stars. She sighed, not knowing how to explain to Naruto when she didn't know exactly what was bothering her. She had already told him about the deal with Sasuke and Tsunade, hence the extra dozen bottles of alcohol, and she was sure that they were back on friend terms. So what was nagging at her so much that prevented her from looking the blonde male in the eyes?

"Naruto...what you said earlier..." She began, forcing herself to make up words as she went along. "Did you really think...I still had feelings for that prick?"

Naruto chuckled, not even needing to sugar coat his answer. "No, I was just trying to see if you knew that yourself. You weren't pretending to even like him anymore, and that was a slap in the face. You grew up, Ino, but apparently I hadn't."

"It's alright Naruto. Everything is fine now, right?"

This time Naruto did remain silent. After several seconds of breathing through his nose and staring into the silvery glow of the moon, Naruto hummed before sitting up. He put an arm on his knee and used his other arm as leverage.

"Nothing is ever that simple Ino. It may seem like thing are finally better, but this is just the calm before the storm." He paused once more, trying to figure out exactly how to word his next statement. "Ino...what are we?"

Ino blushed but asked anyway. "What do you mean?"

"I mean...what are we to each other? Are we friends, close friends, friends with benefits?" He added the last one to ease the tension and it seemed to work as Ino giggled.

"I don't know, Naruto-kun. What do you want us to be?" The sky blue eyed teen sat up and looked Naruto directly in the eye. A small smirk was on her face, letting him know that she wasn't against the thought of them and together in the same sentence.

"I want us to be happy." The seriousness in his tone held room for a little sadness. "Most of all, I want YOU to be happy."

"And who says I'm not happy with you?"

"..."

A wind began to pick up, blowing Ino's hair. Naruto gazed at her, seeing her cover her face with one hand as her bangs waved about elegantly against her skin. She was beautiful, even at a trivial moment like this. It was real beauty. A beauty that he had once thought could only belong to Sakura, and maybe Hinata on occasions. He had never once thought that Ino would be the one sitting next to him, contemplating how to move their relationship forward. He had never once thought that he would actually start to feel something for his counterpart blonde. He had never once thought that he wouldn't have resisted in the least bit.

And now thinking about it, he didn't want to just rip the Uchiha a new one. No, he wanted to rip him a gate to the fucking nether realm. Catching the quick flash of anger on Naruto's face, Ino touched his cheek.

"Is everything alright in there? You're not having a relapse are you?" She joked. Naruto merely shook his head.

"No. Just wondering what exactly I'm gonna do to the bastard, is all. He's gone too far this time. What the fuck was baa-chan thinking when she allowed this?" What was even worse, Naruto wasn't directly included in the plan, so he didn't know his part even though it seemed completely focused around him.

"It probably has more to do with the council than Tsunade-sama, Naruto. We'll just have to wait and see how things turn out..." She stood up. "I'm...I'm gonna head home to get ready. You should get some sleep too, okay?"

"Yeah." He mumbled, still deep in thought. Ino smiled sadly at the blonde. He had just come out of a personal hell and was about to be thrust into another one. Naruto didn't deserve this. He deserved peace of mind more than anyone she knew. "Thanks Ino-chan. After all this is settled...we should really figure out what's going on between us."

Ino nodded. She could wait until this all was settled. Besides, she had all the time in the world for him.

* * *

The first rays of sunlight shone on the village of Konohagakure. To some, it was just another boring day in a much more peaceful world. To others, it was the changing point of the village's history. A change that could maybe even affect the world. Shinobi and civilian alike held their breaths as they watched the rising sun slowly creep its way to its apex. One person stood watching the sunrise with a small smile, both worried and calm at the same time.

"Tsunade-sama, the girls are here." Shizune said to the blonde as she held a medium sized box. The hokage turned and faced her apprentice and longtime friend. She nodded and slowly began to walk back towards her office.

"This is it, Shizune. It's been a nice run."

"Oh shut up. You're not dead yet." The two smiled sadly, a relaxing breeze blowing just before they reentered the building. "Besides, I haven't accomplished my goal yet."

"Which is?"

"Kicking your ass one on one." Shizune called with a wink. Tsunade's eyes widened.

"You need a boyfriend, and fast." The old blonde mumbled. "You're turning into such a tomboy."

"I wonder who I get it from." Shizune chuckled. The wizened young woman then turned from her best friend with a sad smile. "Today's the day."

"And tomorrow is tomorrow. There's no need to worry unless something goes wrong Shizune." Tsunade coaxed the young woman. As the two entered into Tsunade's office, the girls were all there and ready. The first one to speak up was Hana.

"I want to say again that I hate everyone here for this." She said with a chuckle.

"Believe me, you're not alone." Tenten called. "But you two won't mind will you?" She poked at Hinata and Ino, making both girls blush heavily.

"Wh-what is that supposed to mean?" Ino stammered as she crossed her arms and turned from the bun haired girl. Hinata decided against speaking, seeing as she had no intentions of letting her stutters return. Hana put an arm around Ino's shoulder, startling the teen.

"Come on. You, nor Hinata have polished the pole yet. Until you do, you're never gonna know why this is such a bad idea."

Ino elbowed Hana in the side, playfully pushing her away, though the blush on her face spoke volumes of just how seriously embarrassed she was.

"Calm down every body. We need to get everything straight now. The council is expecting you all to be at the Uhciha estate already. Is everyone clear about what needs to be done?" The Hokage spoke sternly as she took her place at her desk. Shizune dropped the heavy box onto it. A loud thud and clinging sound was heard. The girls sighed and glared at the box as if it were some type of demon.

"Hokage-sama. Are these really necessary?" Hinata's voice melodically showed both apprehension and slight annoyance. Weird how that worked, seeing as her voice was still as light as an angels.

"Better safe than sorry." The old blonde replied, ripping the box open. Inside were what appeared to be thin metal bikini's with locks on them.

"Ah, the chastity belt! Haven't seen these since we went to the Land of Currents." Shizune called in nostalgia.

"Yeah, because every man there was a raging pervert and those poor little girls wouldn't have stood a chance!" Tsunade growled out remembering their trip to what we would call the red light district of the ninja world. The four other girls present sweat dropped.

"Uh...shouldn't we be getting this over with?" TenTen called. Tsunade and Shizune snapped out of their reverie and began to hand the offending articles to the girls.

"These are chakra infused, so Sasuke won't be able to do a damn thing unless you want him to." Shizune explained. The girls nodded in understanding, half feeling dread and half feeling devious. The girls began to strip and put on the belts. Halfway through, a knock sounded on the door. Everyone present froze, not wanting to compromise their mission before it had even started.

"Who...who is it?" Tsunade called, having placed an oblivion justu over the room. No one could see in or out, and no one could sense chakras in or out either. It was as if the room was set aside from the village itself.

"It's me...please, I really need to talk to you Tsunade-shishou."

Everyone in the room paled, except one person. A massive amount of ki instantly flooded the room. Ino, having nothing but her panties and bra on stormed over to the door, ignoring the cries of everyone else to stop. She swung the door open, glaring down at the person who had been keeping her on edge for a while now. Sky blue met emerald green.

"And what the hell do you want, Sakura?"

* * *

**A/N: Probably only one or two more chapters before this tale reaches its conclusion. Sad, I know, but other projects are calling my name and I've spent a hefty amount of time on this one already. **

**And just for fun, put "Lucky 7" in your review if you think that Ino is going to beat the living shit out of Sakura next chapter.**


	9. Something Will Change

**Well, it's been a long time. I'm not completely sure if this is the right time for me to start posting again, but hell, I want to give you something before the year is out. I had some type of grand speech about a reader and author relationship planned out for this part but I said screw it. I'm still running on fumes here, and I'm pretty sure I need to save some time for an explanation after you all get done reading this chapter. Good luck.**

**Chapter 9: Something will change**

The tension in the room was at its peak. At that moment, even Tsunade didn't know what would happen. The eyes that laid on the two were scared, worried, and some even amused. This was a long awaited confrontation on some level, and there was no escaping it now. The emerald green that looked into the crystalline blue were wide, shaking and fearing what was to come.

"I...Ino?" Sakura's trembling voice whispered out. Her gaze left Ino's to land on all of the dressing girls in the room. "What's going on..."

"Get her in here and shut the door." Tsunade snapped. Without a second thought, Ino grabbed Sakura's wrist and all but slung her into the room. Not expecting the rough action, Sakura stumbled and fell right in front of Tsunade's desk. Ino slammed the door shut, rocking the office with a force begetting Tsunade. "Ino, calm the hell down."

Ino's glare at the Hokage, for once, showed that there was no way in hell she was going to calm down. The Hokage herself had to resign herself from her thoughts to throttle the girl, seeing more than just unbridled rage in Ino.

"What's gotten into you?" Sakura asked as she stood up. "Ino, what's wrong?"

Ino didn't respond. Her death glare lingered on Sakura with no signs of leaving anytime soon. In reality, Ino was steeling herself to keep from committing murder right there on the spot.

"Ino take responsibility." Tsunade said sternly. "You let her in here."

Ino's gaze softened a bit and she finally began to lose a bit of anger. She cursed herself for almost compromising their mission...but now was as good a time as ever. She couldn't forgive Sakura, not by a long shot.

"Lucky 7." Ino stated calmly. Tsunade's eyes shot open wide while everyone else just looked on in confusion.

"Ino...are you crazy? Why would I allow that?" Tsunade stood from her seat, everyone seeing a slight look of panic in her eyes.

"Hokage-sama...what's lucky 7?" Hinata asked, the others relaying the question with their curious stares. Tsunade could do nothing but grit her teeth. Sakura's head hung low.

"Lucky 7..." The pink haired girl started "Is a decree made by the council years ago."

"What decree?" Hana asked angrily, wanting them to get to the point. Ino took up finishing the explanation.

"A person who decrees Lucky 7 is looking for 'retribution', or in the way the decree was made revenge. The decree states that the victim, being the one who declares Lucky 7, has had an act of the utmost appalling inflicted upon them either physically, mentally, or spiritually by a fellow civilian and/or ninja. If the victim could get at least 7 votes of witnesses, themselves being one of them, they get to do whatever they want to the accused, outside of killing, dismembering, and fatally wounding."

All the female in the room went quiet. A heavy air hung again. All eyes were on Sakura until one person picked up on something.

"Wait..." Tenten called, a bit of anger rising, showing on her reddened cheeks. "This decree...was made because of Naruto, wasn't it?"

The others in the room gasped, except for Tsunade, Sakura, and Ino. Tsunade sighed and held her head. "Of course it was. I forgot to abolish the damn act, because no one actually used it after Naruto was placed on Kakashi's team."

"But when he was growing up, they used it as a legitimate excuse to beat him and torture him, all because of the Kyubi." Ino added.

"There was always a 7 count witness and more when it came down to this. The council always hung it over Sarutobi-sensei's head. Some of the reports I've read actually stated that he was threatened to be kicked out of the Hokage's seat and that the council would go to the Fire Daimyou to make it happen." Tsunade spat with discuss.

"Ino..." Sakura asked with tears in her eyes. "What...what have I done to you? That would make you use that against me?" The hurt in Sakura's eyes hit Ino deep. She was scared. Ino could see betrayal in the girl's eyes, and for a moment didn't want to go through with it. However, remembering everything that had happened to Naruto up to that point, she just couldn't let it go. Not now, at least.

"You've hurt a part of me, Sakura. You've hit it worse than anyone else in this entire world could do. When I decided I wanted to be with Naruto, he became a part of me. You crumbled him, Sakura. Shattered his soul to the point where he was going to let himself fade. You made him want to die, and he would've died thinking that it was all his fault. You spat upon his love, and used his kindness to bring even more pain to him. Sakura, if you cared for Naruto the way you claimed to, then nothing should have kept you from him." Ino was crying tears of anger and sadness now. The rage in her voice trembled her whole body. "He would have gave you everything! His heart, his love, his life, his _existence_! He would have never questioned if you truly loved him...like he did me..."

Ino held her chest. Sakura was taking in the information in silence. Ino was in love with Naruto, and knew everything that had happened. She couldn't bring herself to hate Ino. She still had too much hate for herself. This is what she deserved, and even she couldn't deny that...

"Do it..." Sakura whispered.

"Wh-what?" Ino asked, wiping her tears. Sakura looked into Ino's eyes, the pain and hurt still there, but acceptance as well.

"Do it. Invoke Lucky 7...I deserve it. If it will make you happy, and forgive me, then do it. Even...if you don't forgive me now, or for years. I won't resist...I won't run, or hate you for it."

Ino looked at Sakura in shock. The girl was showing a maturity that she had feigned for years now. But this time, it seemed real. Ino's emotions were so screwed around right now that all she could do was take deep breaths. She wanted to hug Sakura for a reason that she couldn't understand while her anger still lingered in the back of her mind.

"Permission granted. I witness." Tsunade said while holding her head. "But I don't want to hear about this shit anymore after all this is over. Squash it or I'll squash you both."

"Wait, Lucky 7!" Hinata cried out. Sakura winced, but soon straightened. She put her arms to her side and cast her gaze to the ground.

"Hinata..." Tsunade started, but knew it was a failed attempt. Hinata more than anybody could feel the hurt Naruto was going through.

"I'll...I'll accept." Sakura said, looking at the Hyuga.

"Dammit, no more!" Tsunade slammed her palm on her desk, shaking it but not destroying it. "After this, that decree is null and void, do you hear me? No more of this shit! I witness, both." She turned her chair away, the sounds of her cracking her knuckles echoing off the walls.

"I witness." Shizune said.

"I witness." Tenten followed.

"Hell, I just want to see a beating. Witness." Hana called with a sadistic grin.

"I witness for Hinata." Ino spoke.

"And I for Ino." Hinata threw in.

There was a pause in the room. Tsunade spun in her chair. "Wait, that's only six witnesses for the both of you."

Dread fell upon Ino, Hinata, and surprisingly Hana, who groaned about not seeing blood.

"I...I witness for them both." Sakura's trembling voice brought a sinking feeling to Tsunade. Hana, on the other hand, burst into laughter.

"Are you serious? Tsunade-sama, is she really your apprentice? She seems pretty damn dumb to have been taught by you!"

"Hana, shut the hell up!" Tsunade boomed, shutting the Inuzuka up instantly. All eyes fell back upon Ino and Sakura.

Everyone stopped moving, several of the patrons holding their breaths. Ino rose her hand, biting her lip as Sakura visibly flinched. She hesitated, making those watching reach the apex of suspense.

SMACK!

The sound of flesh hitting flesh made all eyes widen. Sakura stumbled back and fell. Ino looked down on the girl, her fist still clenched from hitting the girl in the eye. A single tear slid down her cheek. She looked like the bad guy in this situation, and she would hate herself afterward for it. But right now...while her anger was still over-weighing her forgiveness of Sakura, she needed to vent. The pink haired girl whimpered and held her eye, but she stayed strong, refusing to cry yet. The physical pain she could take of course, but the pain of being beaten by someone she had called a friend for so many years was slowly eating away at her.

And the same went for Ino...

But that didn't stop her. She walked over to Sakura and moved her hand, bringing down another punch to the same eye she had just laid into. Sakura's hand shot up again and Ino grabbed the younger girls hair, dragging her to her feet. Sakura's eyes watered now. She was finding it harder to stay silent as the neutral look on Ino's face spoke volumes of how much she had tarnished her bonds with her friends.

All for Sasuke...

At the end of that thought, Sakura doubled over in pain, Ino having driven her knee into her gut. While doubled over, Ino kneed her in the face, not breaking her nose, but causing it to bleed none the less. Sakura once again found herself on the ground, and this time tears came. Ino walked over to the girl, her anger subsiding. She stomped on Sakura's chest, knocking the wind out of her.

"Don't you ever, EVER, hurt Naruto-kun again." Ino called with the last of her rage.

Sakura's sobs were the only thing heard for several seconds before Hana groaned. "What, that's it? I expected worse! What about you Hinata?"

"No, I'll wait until she least expects it." Hinata called with a cheerful smile, making TenTen and Shizune sweat drop.

"Sakura." Tsunade called, seemingly with little emotion towards what had just happened. "If you want to remain here, you have to abide by a few certain rules. Rules that could land you in prison, or worse if you break them."

Sakura began to wipe her eyes, then stared up at her mentor in confusion. Then she finally began to wonder why all these girls were in Tsunade's office. "What...what's going on here?"

"If we tell you, you will fall under the rules I mentioned Sakura. Are you sure you want to know? It could be hard for you to keep your cool afterward." Tsunade explained, hoping that after what happened, Sakura would have finally gained some sort of common sense.

Sakura looked around the room at the solemn faces, though Ino was standing by the window, hugging herself and looking out over the village. She slightly turned her head to send a small glare at Sakura. Through the small gaze, Sakura knew that Ino would be one to give punishment should she break any rules that Tsunade would tell her. Taking a small gulp, she nodded her head.

Tsunade sighed and leaned back in her chair. She was against telling Sakura anything due to it being able to possibly compromise everything they had planned for. Sakura was an unseen variable, but who knew what would happen with her being there. So against her better judgment, she began to explain the plan to Sakura...

* * *

Naruto was anxious. Not the anxious that could be confused for eagerness, but the anxious as in anticipating something that you know will be bad. When Ino left his apartment, he instantly became scared. Scared of what could happen if he screwed everything up. He wasn't sure if he would be able to do what they wanted him to do, since the fact remained that they didn't actually tell him what they wanted him to do. They expected him to be the impulsive person he usually was, but he didn't know if he could do that anymore.

He had only slept for a few hours before deciding to get up and visit a few of his other friends. He needed to talk to someone, anyone. Maybe even to tell someone about this, to ask for help and advice. The only person he knew would be able to help him was Jiraiya. But his sensei was gone, and there was no bringing him back. He had no one else. He could go to Shikamaru, but he wasn't sure if it would help at all. With everyone else, the less people that knew, the better.

With a sigh, he looked up to the gray clouded sky and walked solemnly in a random direction. For one of the first times in his life, he didn't feel like eating any ramen either. Maybe the whole experience had changed him more than he knew.

Of course it did...

Yes, he was past self pity, but even he knew that everything that had transpired was anything but fair. He didn't wish it on anyone, not even Sasuke.

"Yo, Naruto, wait up." Completely interrupting his musings, Naruto turned to see his plump friend Chouji. The Akimichi seemed to be in a down mood as well as he walked over to the blonde haired teen.

"Hey, Chouji. How's it going?"

"Wish I could say everything was alright." Chouji sighed heavily and slumped, walking next to Naruto with an even heavier air of dread.

"Okay, seeing as I've already done my problems, what's up with you?" Naruto asked, a small chuckle in his tone. It was kind of funny that he could try to help anyone at all with their problems seeing everything he had just went through.

"Well, there's no one to hang out with lately. All the girls have disappeared for some reason, and everyone is either sulking about you having amnesia or being with that 'certain someone'." He mumbled the last part with mocking derision. They walked in silence for only a few seconds before Chouji looked up. "Wait, you don't have amnesia anymore?"

"Nope. Got my memories back last night. But what's this about people being with that 'certain someone'?" Naruto asked with a bit of a smirk. According to his newly regained memory, then Shikamaru would most certainly be with the other Blonde haired Kunoichi from Suna, Neji and TenTen would be inseparable, and hopefully, Kiba would be trying to flirt the skirt off of Ayame. Not to mention the fact that Naruto personally tried to hook up Anko and Iruka, and even attempted to get Kakashi to coax Kurenai since Asuma had died, as the child would need a father figure. Well, this was all before he had brought Sasuke back to the village, but from the way things stood, most of the aforementioned people were already well into making relationships with each other.

Chouji sighed and seemed to slouch a bit more. "Well, Shikamaru apparently proposed to Temari last night, which is how I found out about your amnesia. I saw TenTen and Neji coming out of a hotel earlier and then Neji went home. Kiba's been in a bad mood lately, and Lee and Shino are out of the village at the moment. I haven't seen any of our sensei's lately either."

Naruto shrugged. It seemed as if things were going a bit smoother than he expected. He would check on their sensei's at a later time. But hearing that Shikamaru proposed really surprised him. He had always thought it would end with Temari dragging the lazy teen to the altar. It also made him think about his own future. They were indeed old enough to marry and start families. Hell they were for a while now. Naruto's focus was never there though. It crossed his mind on occasions but it seemed like so much of a far off dream that he never pursued it. With the demon inside him, becoming Hokage seemed a lot more plausible than starting a family. But now that he thought about it...the demon was gone. Naruto was just himself now, so why would starting a family be a bad thing?

"Hey Naruto, do you get this feeling that something big is gonna happen today?" The portly teen asked. Naruto sweat dropped at the deduction.

"You have no idea..."

The two aimlessly walked around the village for a bit. Chouji was right, it was boring. But the anxiety that Naruto had felt earlier hadn't completely gone away.

"NARUTO YOU BASTARD!" The sudden yell startled both Naruto and Chouji, who both had little time to jump out the way as three blurs slammed into the ground where they had just been walking. Naruto frowned at the lingering dust cloud, seeing as he knew exactly who had just attacked him.

"Hey, calm down! I know you're upset but causing a mess in the middle of the village won't help."

"Bull shit boss! You've been here for damn near a month now and you couldn't say hi or anything?" The slightly older voice of Konohamaru scolded, the dust finally lifting revealing Moegi and Udon with him. All three looked pissed off.

"Not only that, but we heard about what happened between you and Sakura too!" Moegi added. Naruto scratched his head with an indifferent chuckle.

"And what's so funny?" Konohamaru demanded.

"You guys! You were worried about me huh? Well I'm sorry I haven't had time to play with you guys." Naruto walked over to the three and knelt before them, pulling all three into a group hug. "I'm sorry if I made you worry, alright?"

"We just want you to be okay, Naruto-senpai." Moegi called returning the hug. After a few seconds Konohamaru began to fidget.

"Alright, alright, enough with all the mushy crap! Boss, we've come bearing an urgent message!" Konohamaru spoke up. Naruto rose an eyebrow. The younger nin pulled a scroll from his small satchel and handed it to Naruto. The blonde unrolled it hastily, making sure not to rip the silky bindings around it.

"From Shizune-chan?" Naruto wondered aloud. Chouji stood by and said nothing.

"What's it say?" Udon asked.

Naruto remained silent as he read the short scroll. His face seemed to pale and he rolled the scroll quickly and put it in his pocket.

"What's up Naruto?" Chouji asked.

"I've got to go. Chouji, get your parents and Shikamaru...hell get everyone we know and meet me at my apartment."

The protest of the other shinobi fell on deaf ears as Naruto sprinted as fast as he could to his apartment.

'What the hell, Tsunade? THIS IS YOUR GREAT PLAN!' Naruto screamed in his head. Shizune must have sent the message to Naruto without letting anyone else know. It must have also been the reason Tsunade refused to tell Naruto the truth about the plan. He still didn't know his own role in it, but now he knew everyone else. The plan was...

* * *

"Sasuke-dono, we have arrived!" The girls chorused as the sat on their hind legs in front of the Uchiha compound gates.

All the girls wore kimono, there hair being done in beautiful and traditional styles. Hinata and TenTen wore there hair in buns, held with Chinese décor chopsticks. Ino and Hana had their hair neatly pulled back and primped up with two jade butterfly clips. All of them seemed to have put on light make-up, making them far more stunning than the sunset itself. Many passerby stumbled or stopped completely to take in the beauty of the quartet.

The gates in front of them began to groan as they slowly open. Koharu and Homura stood on both sides of Sasuke, obnoxious and uppity smirks on their wrinkling faces. Sasuke himself sneered triumphantly at the girls.

"You're all late. You'll be punished." Sasuke said.

"Forgive us Sasuke-dono, we had to take the time to prepare ourselves for you. It would be highly dishonorable to present ourselves to you in such pitiful states." Ino called with her head bowed in apology, the others following suit.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted and turned to head into the compound.

"You're transgressions will be excused this once since it was for Uchiha-dono's sake." Koharu called. "Come now, you will be shown to your quarters and instructed on your daily duties."

The four walked in a line, Ino first, Hinata second, Hana third, and TenTen last. The site seemed like something from a festival, but those who knew what was going on felt a heavy dread over the Uchiha Compound. But until the storm came, everyone would wait in silent apprehension.

_This is so degrading...I swear, if things go wrong, I'll be the first to slit his fucking throat..._

The large compound was completely empty, though it looked like someone constantly fixed it up. The remnants of shops and smaller homes sat on both sides of the street, an aura of sadness wafting from every inch of them. The oppressive aura began to weigh onto the four girls.

_This place is so depressing. It's fitting for this brooding bastard..._

The farther they got into the compound, the heavier the air got. They began to see dark brownish stains on some of the buildings. Slash marks where repairs could not be completed and even some burned houses.

_This...why didn't they get rid of this? Has he lived here like this since he was a child?_

Finally rounding a corner, the girls paused, their eyes widening in shock and horror. Homura and Koharu didn't stop, however Sasuke did. He didn't turn back though. The air that blew over them sent chills down their spines, the dead leaves that swirled around them sending a chilling message. In front of them, for acres upon acres...

were graves.

"What? Did you think that these scars would heal with time?" Sasuke called over the wind, his hair blowing in his face and covering his eyes. "Did you think that even with the villages support, and the love of Sakura and Naruto that I'd become better and forget my past?"

The girls eyes lingered over the hundreds of graves. Something that none of them could explain washed over them. Grief...rage...anguish, pain, sorrow...all of it put into one emotion that built with every passing second. Sasuke took several steps towards the graves.

"This is my reminder. The reason why I needed to find power. To make sure this would never happen to anyone else, ever again. Every single grave here holds a face that will never smile again. Children who will never grow up and people who will never know love again. I want to give my children the happiness their ancestors will never get the chance to have anymore."

The feeling of arms wrapping around him made Sasuke freeze on the spot. All of the girls stood around him, holding him.* The first thought to cross his mind was an attack, however, he heard sobbing. Looking down in confusion, the tearful gazes of all four girls made Sasuke drop his cold facade for a moment.

"Sasuke-dono...we had no idea..." Hinata sobbed into his shoulder.

"Why? Why did you try to bear this by yourself?" TenTen added, her face buried in his back.

"We thought you were just being a brooding asshole. I wouldn't have been able to go on living like this if it were my family." Hana solemnly spoke as she clutched the arm opposite Hinata.

"You never let us in...things would have been different Sasuke-kun." The old pet name that came from Ino caught Sasuke off guard, however, unlike with Sakura, it wasn't used in an obsessive way. The way Ino said it was with understanding, instead of admiration and pity.

"I don't get it..." Sasuke began. "Why do you all see the truth while no one else could? Not even Sakura..."

"Because we're not Sakura. We despised you. For everything you did and everything you'd become." Ino replied. "But if this is the truth...if this is the real you...then maybe something will change."

* * *

"Something will change..." Naruto mumbled to himself as he had several scrolls laid out all around his apartment. They were open and most of them were blank. "But why the hell does she need it to be this?" He called once again to himself as he dipped a brush in ink and began to write seals on the scrolls closes to him. He applied chakra to a complete scroll and the seals seemed to roll up his arm as well. The markings on both the scroll and Naruto's arm faded.

He picked up a bottle of Kettle One Vodka and chugged half of it straight. After wards, he cut his hand and slammed it on the now blank scroll. Nothing seemed to happen, until the blood began to glow bright blue with Naruto's chakra. Like the markings, the blood faded.

Just as he was about to put the bottle to his lips again, he paused. Instead, he lifted it and swished the clear liquid inside, gazing at it through the crystalline bottle. He thought about how his life had led him to the bottom of the bottle, a place where he never dreamed he would be.

What did he feel?

He couldn't tell anymore. Here he was again, worrying about others, trying to save and protect them. When would it finally be his turn to rest? His relationship with Sakura and Sasuke were far over, though he did feel he could forgive Sakura eventually. His relationship with Hinata was a huge question mark, and technically the same could be said about him and Ino. It was obvious they had some type of spark between them, but was it truly worth pursuing?

After everything Ino had just went through for him, he'd be a damn fool to turn her away. The same way Sakura did him, and the same way he did Hinata...

He would need to talk to the Hyuga too. He needed to clear things up with her as well. Regardless of if she already forgave him or not, he didn't want her to end up like how he almost did. The hard part would be what to say to her. He was going to try to pursue the something between him and Ino, and knew there would be no way for him to be with Hinata once he did. It did sting a bit, especially since Hinata was the first one to show him the love that he had always sought from Sakura. But he had already made up his mind to give Ino a shot. Still, the guilt he felt wouldn't go away.

Swishing the liquid again, the rippling alcohol seemed to bring up more of his past.

It had taken a while, but he was finally starting to see just how much he meant to everyone. His obsession with Sakura and admittedly Sasuke had blinded him from seeing that he had people in his corner for a long time. From the day he met Shikamaru to end of the latest Shinobi War. He had people behind him from every nation.

So why did he still feel empty?

Something was missing. The cliché answer would be the woman by his side. But that wasn't it. He was almost completely sure he and Ino would become an item sooner or later. His confidence in that aspect was all but reinforced by the previous weeks events, if not, then by the staggering amounts of alcohol in his bloodstream.

Something felt wrong...

Naruto shook his head and downed the last of the vodka. Whatever it was, he was sure he would come to some type of conclusion eventually. Right now, he needed to prepare. If what Shizune wrote on that scroll was true, then Naruto was going to have to fight again. But this time, he didn't know against who.

* * *

**Before anyone starts smashing on the review button to bite my head off, don't worry. I'm not changing my initial plans for the story, I'm only taking a dangerous route. I said I wanted to do something different with this cliché concept (seeing as if I never added the Sasuke part, then this story could be over already) and this is part of it. It was hard enough for me to write it, especially with the drop in quality IMO. **

**Well, on a more upbeat note, it shouldn't be too hard to actually finish this story now. I'm debating whether to have 2 or 3 more chapters, but one more just won't cut it, even for the sake of an epilogue. **

**I hadn't originally planned to actually BASH Sakura in this chapter, but after getting a scolding from my mentor and two crash courses on Sakura bashing (Courtesy of Violent Werewolf-Dark Princes Dark Destiny Revised and KingKakashis Naruto vs. Sasuke-The Aftermath) I realized that my bashing of Sakura in this chapter is LINIENT compared to what I've seen done to her. So all's well that ends well!**

**I honestly don't know when the next chapter will be up, but as I said above, it shouldn't be too hard to keep going. However, it will not be before I post the next chapter of Hope Will Never Die. **

**So to end this annoying A/N, I'd like to thank all of you readers who have pm'd me to check up on me and to make sure everything was okay. The last few messages I received last week spurred me to come back sooner and I truly appreciate your concerns. I'll keep you all updated, so until next time, ja mata ne.**


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